Time Away
by Sesame Fiction
Summary: Naruto and his team are sent on an assassination mission on a far away island. However, all is not as it seems. Is it enough to follow orders and complete missions, or should a ninja do what he thinks is right, even in a strange land. Time Apart 2
1. Chapter 1

Time Away Chapter 1: Assignment

This is the sequel to Time Apart, so if you haven't read that yet, it is my hearty suggestion that you do. Additionally, Naruto does not belong to me.

* * *

Hinata flew through the trees as fast as her legs could propel her. She knew exactly where all three of her pursuers were, thanks to the power of her Byakagun, but it wasn't much comfort. If she couldn't see them, then she could at least fool herself into believing she was going to escape. Sadly, that didn't seem to be the case.

The tree branch that had been her spring board a mere moment ago was quickly filled with shurikens. She was getting used to the faint whistle as the objects flew through the air, mere inches from her face, never hitting their mark. She could thank the Byakagun for that as well. Landing on another branch, she decided to try and make her stand. Right before her next jump, Hinata released a swift burst of chakra from her feet, cutting the branch deeply. Upon her next landing, she reached into her pouch to grab a kunai. Swiftly turning around, Hinata caught the vision of one of her pursuers crashing to the forest floor. She used the Kunai to block the incoming shurikens and got ready for a close quarters battle.

She wasn't disappointed. Within seconds, they were on her, all aggression. It took all she had just to block their attacks, let alone try and fight back realistically. She was the Hyuuga clan heiress. She should not be beaten in taijutsu by just any ordinary ninja. As she was pushed back to a thinner part of the tree she fought on, she reflected that her opponents were not ordinary ninjas. Hinata let a small grunt of pain slip out as she blocked a particularly savage blow with her arms. As the next one came in from the other direction, she threw herself over the side while using her chakra to stick her feet to the tree. As a result, her feet were glued to the bottom of the branch, while her body continued to swing around from the inertia of the dodge.

Luckily, this caught her opponent off guard, and she was able to slide her kunai through the back of both of his feet. He disappeared into a puff of smoke, while Hinata quickly placed an exploding tag on the bottom of the branch. Releasing her chakra, she sailed toward the ground in a graceful flip. The tag exploded as soon as she landed. Wasting no time, she was on the run again from her pursuer, straining her body to its limits. With her target in sight, she didn't have time to wonder why her Byakagun wasn't picking up her final pursuer. The answer waited for her within arms reach of the target.

With a rumble, the earth in front of her opened up, and within seconds Hinata was pinned to the ground, with the feel of cold steel on her neck.

"Dammit!" she cursed, "I almost made it."

"How many times have I told you, never forget to check underground for possible attackers?" Naruto chided, putting his Kunai back in his pouch, and rolling off of Hinata.

"I know, I'm sorry," was the girl's reply, "I was giddy because I got so close this time." Naruto extended his hand to help her up out of the dirt. She grabbed it happily, and, once standing, didn't let it go.

"You have definitely improved in the past year. I'm glad that I was quick enough to use a replacement technique with my clone to get out of the way from that upside down flying Hinata foot slash of doom. Otherwise, I wouldn't be walking for a week!" Naruto said as they walked back towards the village. "I don't think you or Lee will have any problems with the Jounin exam this year."

"I hope you are right," she said, squeezing his hand. In the past year together, Hinata had managed to break away slightly from her shyness in regards to Naruto. She felt comfortable with him, and that helped a lot.

"I will walk you back to the Hyuuga mansion, then I have got to go to a meeting with Tsunade," he said.

"Another mission?" she asked. Their particular team had been assigned to more missions that most, due to their extraordinary success rate. Having killed Orochimaru, Naruto was regarded by most of the city as a hero now. Even though his team consisted of two chuunin and an irate demon bound in the body of a tiny fox, they always returned successful and usually unhurt.

"Probably," he answered. They walked in silence for a little while, enjoying the morning. When they reached the Hyuuga clan gates, Naruto stopped. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, and then said, "I will see you tonight at your birthday celebration. I've been working with Kit on a present for you that I hope you will really enjoy."

Hinata smiled, her curiosity sufficiently piqued, and walked into the house. She shouted back, "See you tonight!" as she entered the gates.

* * *

Tsunade sighed as she waited for Naruto to show up. He was usually punctual, but she noticed he was almost always late for an early morning meeting. She had finally asked Rock Lee about it, and he had told her that Naruto makes everyone get up at four in the morning to do morning warm ups. Then, he alternates running one of them through a training course that he concocted. She would complain, if both Hinata and Lee hadn't shown amazing improvement over the last year.

She was pleased when she heard the expected knock on the door. "Come in," she said. She was not surprised to see Naruto walk through the door, his hair wet from a recent shower. Kit trailed at his heels, as usual.

"Good morning," he said, crossing the room and sitting down. Kit hopped up into the chair next to him.

"You are late," Tsunade growled.

"Sorry about that, training ran a little late this morning," he said. "I didn't want to show up for a meeting filthy." He flashed a smile. "What's going on, another mission?" he asked.

The answer came from across the room as a gruff male voice said, "This is your finest assassin? How pathetic."

Naruto wasted no time with his rebuttal. "I am _not_ an assassin, and if you doubt my skills then I can demonstrate them."

"Gentlemen!" Tsunade said forcefully.

"Respectfully, I came with orders to purchase the skills of your best assassin. If this man is not him, then you have misunderstood my mission," the man said, stepping into full view. He was outfitted in full samurai war gear, his helmet placed under his arm.

"If the mission is as you reported it, any one of my Genin could accomplish it. A non-ninja target would be child's play for anyone in this village to take care of. You asked for the best person for the job, and this man and his team are it. You will take their services, or you will return to your master empty handed, do you understand _that?_" Tsunade asked.

"Forgive me for offending you," the man said, bowing slightly to Tsunade. He turned to face Naruto. "I am Kitano Harashi, and the Kitano family has need of your services."

Naruto returned the man's bow slowly, "I am Uzumaki Naruto, and this is my pet fox Kit," he said, and then turned to Tsunade. "What is this about? Why is my team up for an assassination mission, isn't that ANBU's job?"

"Kitano, if you would please leave us while we discuss the mission. My assistants can escort you to a place for you to stay tonight, before your mission leaves in the morning," Tsunade said. Kitano nodded and walked out the door.

Once the samurai was out of earshot, Kit let loose. "I am so _tired_ of being introduced as your pet fox. Am I not a member of your team? I understand that you can't introduce me as Lord Kyuubi, master demon, but, surely, you can come up with something a little more dignified than pet?"

"Shut up," Naruto and Tsunade said at the same time, dismissing his complaints. They were used to his indignant outbursts. When he realized that they weren't going to answer him, he settled down and got serious.

"Okay, fine, why are we going on an assassination mission a genin could accomplish? It is a waste of our talents," the fox said.

"I will decide what is a waste of your talents," Tsunade answered. "And it is precisely because of _your_ talents that you are going," she said, pointing at Kit.

"What does assassinating someone have to do with Kit?" Naruto asked.

"Well it isn't the assassination really, it's where it will take place. Harashi is from Swan country. Before you interrupt me to tell me you have never heard of it Naruto, the reason is because it is an island far off the coast. Being so well traveled in his youth, I was hoping that Kit might know a lot about it. Including being able to speak their language," Tsunade said.

Kit was quiet for a moment before answering. "If it is where I think it is, then yes, I should know quite a bit about it. The place I knew wasn't called Swan country though."

"Well, you will still have a better chance than anyone else we have. From what Harashi has told me, the Kitano family is the ruling family on the island. They follow a strict code of honor that doesn't include assassinations. However, a minor family has started a rebellion that is tearing the island apart. Lord Kitano has tried to call out the leader of this rebellion, but the other man refuses to meet him in combat, preferring instead to raid the villages. He wants us to track him down and kill him," she said, finishing the briefing.

"So you want us to go because Kit will know the land?" Naruto asked.

"Exactly, and, perhaps, the language as well. Kit's extensive knowledge will be more useful on this mission than even the most skilled assassin in Konoha." Tsunade said. "You leave in the morning. This will be classified as an A class mission, even though the target is non-ninja, because of the circumstances. Oh, and one last thing. You will need to be very secretive about what you are doing, so Lord Kitano's honor is not besmirched in the eyes of his subjects. Dismissed."

"Sounds fun," Naruto grumbled as he walked outside. "Let's get back to my house and get everything ready for Hinata."

* * *

Naruto no longer lived in the tiny apartment that he had called home during his childhood. After completing the mission against Orochimaru, and finishing several A class missions after that, he had saved enough money to buy his own place. It wasn't much, but it screamed birthday right now. He had spent the better part of the day preparing, and he had used Kage Bunshins to help. Satisfied that the decorations would please her, Naruto waited for the guests to arrive.

The party itself was the best Hinata had ever had. Her birthday up until now had consisted of a family affair. Stuffy Hyuuga clan nobles drinking tea and wishing the heir of the clan well, while secretly wishing for her to die during a mission so a more capable heir could step up. While that had happened this year, she had managed to sneak away fairly quickly to show up to Naruto's party.

Neji, Kiba, Shino, Lee, Naruto, and Kit were all there. Kit had told Naruto how people used to celebrate birthdays in the western style, and so there was cake and presents. She only regretted that she had to wait seventeen years for such a perfect birthday. After it was all over, and the guests had left, it was just Naruto, her, and of course, Kit.

"So what is this present you two have been working on?" she asked when she couldn't stand it any longer.

"Well, you know how you said you always wanted to be by my side?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah…" was Hinata's response.

"Well Kit and I came up with the next best thing. Here, lift up your shirt," he said reaching for her.

"Woah there!" she said, skirting away. She trusted him, but that had come out of nowhere.

"Not for that!" he said, blushing. "Just lift it up a little bit. Trust me." Slowly, she complied. "Now, channel some of your chakra to your naval area."

"Okay," she said, wondering what was going on. Naruto made some quick hand seals and slammed his palm into her stomach. There was a burning pain for a moment, and her ears were ringing. When her hearing returned, Naruto was frantic.

"Are you ok? Oh my god, it wasn't supposed to hurt that much!" he said.

"I'm ok, it's fine," she said. Looking down at the place where he had touched her, she saw a small tattoo shaped like a fox. "What is this all about?" she asked.

_Can you hear me?_ was Naruto's answer.

"Of course I can, why wouldn't I be able to?" she said. She looked up at his face.

_Pay closer attention, don't you notice anything strange?_ Naruto said with a smile. Except for the fact that his mouth didn't move.

Hinata was stunned. "H-how?"

"Kit figured it out first. We were trying to figure out how to communicate with each other while in a crowd or something. We started thinking that if we could send chakra along our link, why not something else. So we started doing some experiments with different seals, until we found one that worked," he said, lifting Kit off the ground. There was an identical seal on his stomach.

"Can I communicate back to you?" Hinata asked.

"Yes, just channel chakra to the tattoo and speak clearly in your mind. It should send it along the chakra link to me," Naruto said.

_Like this?_ Hinata's voice said in Naruto's mind.

_Exactly. It should work no matter how far apart we are,_ he said. _However, it does drain chakra. For me it isn't a big deal since I have so much, but if you were using your Byakagun while carrying on a conversation with me, you might start feeling a little drained._

"Naruto …" Hinata started. "Thank you. I couldn't have asked for a better gift." She leaned up and gave him a kiss. "I had better get back. My father is going to be angry with me for slipping out so quickly. He still doesn't approve of you."

"He won't ever approve of me. Some people don't change. When I am Hokage though, he will have to listen to me," Naruto said with a smile.

* * *

Hiashi was practicing his forms in the dojo, when his daughter returned from her party. He could have noticed any number of things about her that were different that usual. The way that she walked in with a happy bounce in her step and a smile on her face. The subtle way that she hummed to herself, so different from the daughter he had a few years ago. He could have noticed the grace with which she moved, poised for action at a subconscious level. However, he _did _notice the slight trail of red chakra that was firmly attached to her stomach.

If he had not been practicing with his Byakagun on, he would have missed it. If he had been of any other family line, he would have missed it. As fate would have it, he _did _have his Byakagun on, and he _was_ a Hyuuga. There was only one thing he knew of that had that kind of chakra. The demon boy, Naruto must have done something to his daughter. Undoubtedly, she had let him do it. She probably wanted him to.

This was the last straw.

Hiashi crossed the room and blocked her way. He practically spat out, "What has that demon done to you this time?"

Hinata looked up into her fathers eyes. "He is _not_ a demon, and he hasn't done anything to me," she said. Her answer was replied to with a stinging slap to the face.

"Do not lie to me girl! The whole clan can see your shame now!" her father said with barely contained rage. Lifting her shirt up slightly with his finger, he saw the fox tattoo. "You mark yourself with his symbol. I can no longer tolerate the shame you bring on this house by consorting with that boy." Hiashi shouted for some other clan members, who walked into the room.

Hinata was frantic when Hiashi ordered the two men to hold her. "With these two as my witness, I denounce you as heir to the Hyuuga clan. Hanabi will now be my heir, and you will be marked for the branch family," Hiashi said. Hinata gasped. That meant that the seal was going to be placed on her. With nothing but a gesture, any head family member could see her dead. "Carry her to the other room and prepare for the sealing."

* * *

_Naruto!_ Hinata's voice screamed in his head. Naruto bolted up from where he had been laying down, drawing Kit's attention. _Please help me! They are going to mark me!_ Naruto could feel the frantic and overwhelming fear in her mind-voice. Anger began to boil up inside him.

_I'm coming,_ Naruto sent back.

"Naruto, what's going on?" Kit asked.

"Hiashi is doing something terrible to Hinata. I am going to kill him," Naruto replied, his whiskers turning jagged and harsh.

"Not that I don't approve, but is that wise?" Kit asked. Naruto was already sprinting towards his window.

"Get Tsunade and Neji, bring them to the Hyuuga clan mansion," Naruto said, turning to face Kit. His eyes had turned completely red, and small fangs had sprouted from his mouth.

"Don't do anything rash. I would hate to see us executed," Kit yelled after him as he crashed through his window and disappeared into the night. Kit jumped out after him and headed toward the Hokage's residence. "He makes me so proud when he's angry."

* * *

Kitano Harashi was looking out the window of his room into the peaceful Konoha night, pondering the fate that awaited him on his return to Swan country. He had dishonored himself and his master by coming here to hire assassins. There was no other path for him to follow upon returning, other than seppuku. It would be his final slap in the face against the master that he dared not disobey. If he was lucky, then the people might see the events that would unfold, and know why he had done this terrible, final act. It was not the warrior's death he had hoped for, but it would do.

It was at about this time that his window was filled with the profile of a man he recognized from earlier that day. There were some differences of course. For one, the whiskers that he had assumed were tattoos had changed. Also, the eye color was different and the man was sporting some rather intimidating fangs. In another instant, he was gone, leaping forward into the night. Realizing that the man who would soon be traveling with him was obviously leaping through the rooftops with some terrible purpose, Kitano did what anyone would have done. He followed him.

* * *

Naruto landed with a dull thud in front of the Hyuuga mansion. The two guards standing at the entrance glanced at each other before getting the courage to stand in his way. They were no fools. They knew who he was and what power he had. Everyone in Konoha knew that he was the man who had felled Orochimaru. Everyone over the age of forty knew that he was the one who housed the most powerful demon known to man, the Kyuubi no Kitsune. Still, somehow they found the courage to stand in his way.

"I am here for Hinata. Get out of my way! This is your only warning!" Naruto said, never breaking stride

"Respectfully sir, you can't go—," the man's objections were silenced when Naruto sent a blast of chakra into the man's stomach, sending him flying. The guard hit the wall with a thud and slid down to the ground, unconscious. The other guard launched himself into a desperate attack. It lasted about two seconds, Naruto didn't have time to spar with someone.

* * *

Hiashi heard the ruckus coming from the other end of the house, and knew that his clan was under attack. He had seen the chakra trail to Naruto flash when he had told Hinata that she would be marked for the branch family. Finally, Naruto had moved against his clan, and he had all the proof he needed to have him executed, or banished. Feeling no remorse, he started to make the hand seals required to perform the sealing. Hinata squirmed under the firm grip of the two elders that held her.

Luckily, Naruto chose that moment to throw another Hyuuga clan warrior through the door. Everyone in the room dropped what they were doing to lay eyes upon the crazed man in front of them. Naruto was covered in blood, presumably his own. There were several kunais and shurikens embedded in his body. Swirling around him was a powerful red chakra that Hinata had only seen without her Byakagun once before.

"Release her!" he said. His voice a powerful distortion of what it usually sounded like.

"How dare you attack my clan, and meddle in our business. Anyone could see that what stands before me now is a possessed demon. You should have been put down at birth like I suggested," Hiashi said. Naruto growled in response and stepped forward, but still did not attack.

"I warned you before, Hinata is under my protection!" Naruto said. "You knew this would happen."

"I thought the demon warned me? You are one and the same, and I have always known it," Hiasha spat back. "I may die fighting you, but I can only hope that Konoha has the sense to rise up against you now." He dropped into a fighting stance.

"Stop this nonsense at once!" Tsunade shouted stepping into the room. "Naruto, stand down!" Naruto visibly attempted to calm himself, but the power of his chakra still whipped clothes around like a strong wind. "Hinata is safe, now stand down." That seemed to have more of an effect. Slowly Naruto returned to normal.

Hinata ran from where she had been to Naruto, tears streaming from her face. "What have I done?" she whispered, pulling the weapons out of Naruto's body.

"Hokage, this man has attacked my clan without provocation. I demand that he be executed," Hiashi said.

"None of your clan members are dead, and the repairs to your mansion will come directly from Naruto's pay," the Hokage said. Turning to Naruto she said, "That was _very_ stupid."

"He was going to mark Hinata for the branch family. The heiress of the Hyuuga clan asked for my help, so it was not unprovoked," Naruto spat.

"She is no longer the heiress. Hanabi is. The workings of my clan are none of your business. My demand stands Hokage-sama, your favoritism is becoming blatant. His actions are slightly less offensive that Itachi's, and only because he was not as effective," Hiashi answered.

"If I had wanted to kill everyone in your clan, I would have! I was only here to protect Hinata from _your_ unprovoked attack," Naruto said. He looked like he was about to say something else, when Kitano Harashi walked around the corner.

"You must forgive me. My command of your language isn't complete," the samurai said.

"Kitano-san! What are you doing here?" Tsunade said.

"I saw the gentlemen there land on my window. Since he is leaving on a mission with me tomorrow, I thought I would follow to see what he was doing. I now have no doubts that he is the man for the job," Harashi said.

"Anyone in this village could do your mission," Tsunade said, for the millionth time.

"That may be, but Uzumaki-san has demonstrated to me something more priceless than the most talented ninja. If I understand the situation, he risked death by fighting through an entire clan because he sensed danger to his woman. He did what his honor demanded he do, with no concern for personal safety. He then refrained from using lethal force against opponents who wanted him dead. He is an honorable man," Kitano finished with a deep bow to Naruto.

"Hokage-sama," Hiashi started.

"Enough," Tsunade said, cutting him off. "Let me be clear with you Hyuuga Hiashi. I don't like you. I don't like the way you run your clan, and I don't like the way you treat your daughter. You don't want her to be your heir, fine, but I will not allow you to have the power to end her life with a hand gesture. Now, Naruto and his team are going on an extended mission tomorrow morning. When they return, Naruto will be punished for what he has done. Hinata will be living with me, until further arrangements can be made. Touch her, and I will bring your whole clan down, do you understand?" she said.

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

"You two!" she said, pointing to Naruto and Hinata. "My office. Now!" The two walked out of the room. "Kitano, please return to your room. Your mission will leave as scheduled tomorrow morning. I apologize for you having to see this."

"It was my pleasure, Hokage-sama," Kitano said.

* * *

Neji stood outside the Hyuuga clan mansion next to Kit. He was shocked. He only knew of a few people who would be capable of just walking into the Hyuuga clan mansion when they felt like it. He could think of only one who might have a reason to be there, and a pet fox.

Naruto stumbled out of the building along with Hinata. Kit ran up to him and seemed to look over his wounds, nod, and then start trailing along behind him.

"What happened?" Neji asked.

"I am no longer the heir of the Hyuuga clan. They were going to mark me for the branch family," Hinata said. "Naruto came to stop them, and now we are in trouble."

Neji nodded, "I assumed it was something like that. That bastard Hiashi. His hatred of Naruto is clouding his judgement. Everyone in Konoha has seen your improvement since you have been with Naruto, and I don't know of anyone that doesn't approve of your being together other than him. What brought it on?"

"Use your Byakagun," Hinata said. "You will see."

Neji complied, seeing the trail of distinctive chakra run from Naruto's naval to hers. "What is that?"

"A new seal me and … well a new seal I came up with anyway. It allows us to communicate silently," Naruto said.

_I love how you take credit for everything I do,_ Kit said in Naruto's mind.

_Well most people don't know my pet is actually you, so I can't go saying you did it now can I?_ Naruto replied.

"You are connected to the fox as well?" Neji asked.

_Shit, I forgot he can see chakra,_ Naruto thought to himself. "Yeah," Naruto said.

Neji was silent for a moment before responding. "I understand. If the Hyuuga clan sees this, then they may suspect that your fox is more than he is. You should be careful."

"I will. Now that they all hate me for tearing up their house, I'm sure they will have it in for me," Naruto said. Hinata wiped a tear from her face.

"This is all my fault. I should have just let them do it, and then we wouldn't have this problem," she said. Naruto and Neji responded as one.

"No!" Neji continued to explain, "If Hiashia had marked you for the branch family, then he would have an absolute hold over Naruto. With a hand gesture he could take your life, and so Naruto would be forced to do whatever Hiashi wanted. It's the same reason I couldn't come in to help Naruto. They would have killed me instantly for rebelling against the head family."

"We are leaving on a long mission tomorrow morning," Naruto said as they neared the Hokage's office. "Do us a favor and keep your eye on Hiashi. I have a feeling he will have something waiting for me when I return. If he spins tonights events right, with me not here to defend myself, I could be coming home to another lynch mob."

"Lets hope not," Neji said. "I will do my best to make sure that doesn't happen." Naruto and Hinata said goodbye as Neji leaped off into the night, to do whatever it was that the ANBU commander did at night.

Naruto gave a light knock at the Hokage's office door. In moments, Shizune opened the door. "Come on in. Let's get you cleaned up before the Hokage gets back."

* * *

**Authors Note**: Well here we have the beginning of the sequel to Time Apart. I hope you all will enjoy this story as much as the last one I wrote. Please remember to leave a review to let me know what you think. Additionally, feel free to read my one shot Warhammer fiction that has 0 reviews 

Again this fic will be edited by my lovely wife, so props to her for the (hopefully) very few grammar mistakes.


	2. Chapter 2: The Journey

Time Away

Chapter 2: The Journey

* * *

Naruto hoisted his pack over his shoulders and walked out of the front door. Last night's events had shaken him up a bit, and he certainly wasn't looking forward to what was going to happen when he returned from his mission. Tsunade was very angry with him. In her opinion, he should have come and gotten her himself _before_ storming the Hyuuga mansion alone. While it was true that the guards would have let in the Hokage without any questions, Naruto was almost too late as it was. There was nothing he could have done.

"Quit sulking. We have a mission, and I think we are going to need to be on our toes for this one," Kit said at Naruto's feet as they walked the deserted path toward the town. Not many people were out and about this early in the morning, and Kit didn't have the spare chakra to mind-speak, unless it was something really important, or Naruto was supplying extra chakra at the time.

"Why will we need to be on our toes? The target isn't even a ninja. We can sail over, whack the guy, and be back in less than a month," Naruto replied.

"I think it's going to be more complicated than that. I've been around for a while, and these things are rarely that simple. Besides, you haven't got the heart for an assassination mission," Kit said.

"I've killed before. If this guy is a rebel and is attacking villagers, I won't have any problem ending his life," Naruto said. They paused their conversation for a moment as they passed a townsman setting up his shop for the day. Once he was out of earshot, they continued.

"Ah, but he isn't _your_ enemy. What if he has a family? What if he has a reason to be rebelling? Only a fool believes he can end lives so simply. Well, a fool or a demon," Kit said, with what passed for a chuckle.

"Well, then we can just do a beast transformation and let you take care of it," Naruto said with a smile. "Problem solved."

Kit looked like he was about to say something, but at that moment a Hyuuga clan member limped out in front of him. Naruto stopped in his tracks. A quick glance at his surroundings let him know that he was standing outside the hospital. Naruto didn't really recognize the man, but it was clear that whatever damage he had suffered was Naruto's fault.

"Uzumaki-san," the man said, bowing slightly.

"Hyuuga-san," Naruto responded, also with a bow. "Forgive me for your injuries, I only wished to stop your master from harming Hinata."

To Naruto's surprise, the Hyuuga gave a slight chuckle. He reached up slowly and moved his head protector aside, revealing the mark of the branch family. "You did the right thing. It's just my bad luck that I was on guard duty," he said.

"Thanks," Naruto replied. "Spread the word that I am sorry for hurting you all. I'm afraid that I am on my way out for a mission, and won't be able to speak for myself for awhile."

"Sure," the Hyuuga said. "Good luck."

Naruto watched the man limp off towards the Hyuuga mansion. Idly, Naruto wondered how many other ninjas were going to get double duty because he had put most of the Hyuuga clan out of commission. He didn't think he was going to be terribly popular when he returned.

* * *

Rock Lee and Hinata stood at the front gates of the hidden village of Konoha. Lee had been waiting for Hinata when she walked out of the front door of Tsunade's house. He had gotten a note yesterday informing him of the mission and asking him to watch over Hinata until Naruto arrived. It wasn't like Naruto to be late.

"What do you know about the mission?" Lee asked "My note only said that we would be abroad for at least a month, maybe more."

Hinata jumped when Lee spoke. "Sorry," she said, shaking off the daydream she had been having. "Naruto didn't tell me much about it. He just told me that we would be gone for a while, and that we were going to a far off land. Last night there was a foreigner that I am assuming is the man who hired us. He apparently had followed Naruto to the mansion."

Lee nodded. He had heard all about Naruto's foolhardy attack on the Hyuuga clan mansion. If he had heard soon enough, he probably would have helped. Over the last year, he had grown closer and closer to his new team in a way he never had with Neji and Ten-ten. Naruto had saved his life many times over, and trained him into a better ninja than he thought possible. If Naruto asked him to jump off a cliff he would probably do it.

Thinking back on when he first met Naruto, Lee could only chuckle. Back then, the only thing they had in common was their zest for life and boundless energy. Well, that and they loved to train. Naruto had been foolish and brash. He bragged all the time, and constantly did things that everyone thought were stupid. Then he had disappeared. For four years Naruto was presumed dead, and Lee and his friends mourned his passing. Then one day Naruto returned, years older than he should have been.

Lee still had problems wrapping his mind around what Naruto had called a 'chakra tear.' The end result was an older, more mature Naruto. Lee's respect had grown by leaps and bounds after he heard about the way the village had been treating Naruto. The fact that the demon fox had been bound in him for his entire life put a new shade on all of the memories that Lee had of Naruto. Now a competent leader and a hero of the village, Naruto inspired Lee to be an even greater ninja.

"Here he comes," Hinata said, interrupting Lee's trip through the past. "That man is with him." She stood up and shouldered her pack. She had been on enough missions with Naruto to know that he didn't like to waste time. She smiled as he waved at her from a distance. When Naruto reached the gates, her and Lee fell into step with him. They left Konoha at their backs.

Naruto began the mission briefing on the road, like he usually did. "Kitano Harashi, this is Hyuuga Hinata and Rock Lee, my team. This is Harashi, a high ranking samurai in Kitano Gozu's court. He has hired us as a representative of his lord, Gozu. He will explain the mission."

"A pleasure to meet you all. I had my doubts when I first met Uzumaki-san. However, he has shown that he is an honorable, and capable warrior. My lord Gozu is the new ruler of Swan country, however, his ability to properly lead our country is being hampered by the rebel Tanaka Hiro. Lord Gozu has tried to call out Hiro, but the rebel hasn't gotten the summons, or wisely refuses to face him in battle. It is dishonorable for a samurai to have people assassinated, but my lord feels that it is necessary to eliminate Tanaka before he destroys everything that Gozu has worked to build. He insists that the mantle of leadership is sometimes heavier than honor," Harashi said, his voice growing disdainful towards the end.

"Question," Lee said almost immediately.

"Yes," Harashi replied.

"When Tanaka turns up dead, won't everyone suspect Gozu hired the ninjas who did it? The end result it that your lord is dishonored," Lee asked.

"That is why you can not kill him in a way that anyone will suspect was murder. When we reach the port city, you will dress in peasant's clothing, and will pretend to be my servants. Once we get to Swan country, you will attempt to locate and eliminate the target with no trace of your activities," Harashi said. "These are the wishes of Gozu-sama."

"What about the language? How are we going to track down Tanaka and infiltrate his camp if we stick out as foreigners?" Hinata asked. "Surely you have ninjas of your own who could do this?"

"We do not. No offense meant, but Swan country would never lower itself to killing another honorable man in the night. We fight like men, face to face and with honor! As for the language, you will have to be secretive so that you do not have to speak with people. You do specialize in being secretive, do you not?" Harashi replied.

"No offense to you, but Swan country has already 'lowered' itself to killing another man in the night. You hired us yourself," Naruto said.

"I will atone for what _I_ have done. I have told you everything you need to know to complete your mission. You will be given a drawing of the target when we reach Swan country so you will be sure to eliminate the right man. When you have completed your mission, return to Gozu-sama and he will arrange for you to return to Konoha," Harashi said.

_I am beginning to see what you were talking about,_ Naruto said to Kit. _I think there is more to this than Harashi is letting on. I am interested in speaking with this 'Gozu-sama' when we arrive in Swan country._

* * *

The overland journey was uneventful and short. Within a week, they had reached the port city they had planned to launch from. The smell of the sea and fish filled the air, along with the shouts of the men at the market. Naruto negotiated for lodgings and the group prepared to sleep for the night. The next day they would board a ship that was captained by a friend of Harashi.

In the morning, Harashi had them all dress like servants. Naruto ordered everyone to hide their head protectors deep within their clothing. Naruto didn't think that they would need their kunai, since this was a mission that didn't involve other ninja's, and he wasn't going to risk them getting discovered if he could help it. Since they were dressed as servants, they were going to have to act like servants, and that meant that almost anyone could search them.

Fully prepared now, the group followed Harashi to the docks. Hinata and Lee almost openly gaped at the bigger, more modern ships. Kit gave a chuckle as they headed farther and farther down to the dock, towards the older vessels. Finally, Harashi stopped and pointed at an old sail powered junk. "That is our ship," he said.

The ship had been painted a dull shade of red, although it was obvious that the paint had been applied many years ago. Three masts lifted three large sails off of the decks, although they had been pulled in while the ship was in dock. The large mast was about half as tall as the ship was wide. It was far from the modern ship that Hinata had been hoping for. She had never been at sea before, but she didn't think she was going to like it.

"Alright! I can see that it was built with love, and must sail with a fiery determination! I couldn't have picked a finer ship!" Lee said enthusiastically.

"I could," Hinata said under her breath with a sigh. Naruto caught her eye with a little wink.

"Looks like fun," Naruto said moving to lead the group towards the boat. Harashi laid his hand on Naruto's shoulder to stop him.

"From here on I lead, and you must remember you are lowly servants that I have hired here in my travels. You must walk several steps behind me, and carry my bags. Always refer to me as 'master' and be respectful of everyone you see. Not many can speak your language, but act as though everyone can," Harashi said.

"Sure," Naruto said, stepping back and lifting Harashi's bags with ease. "Master," he added at the end with a bow. "Lead on."

* * *

"Gozu-sama, I am happy to report that a messenger bird arrived yesterday. Harashi is in the company of three ninja's and is most likely setting sail very soon."

"Damn him. I said one ninja. Three is too many. See to it that our pirate friends are aware of their location. Harashi must be dead before he reaches our ports. Once that is complete, summon the winds and smash both of their ships on the rocks. We will conveniently 'find' one of the ninjas, the others can drown."

"Of course my lord. It shall be as you say."

* * *

Naruto and his team had been below decks for almost the entire journey. The ship had set sail over two days ago, and they had only been permitted to walk around freely once. With all the crew busy on the upper deck, there wasn't enough room for mere servants to wander around, or even sit in the air.

"I realize that we are supposed to be servants, but doesn't this seem a bit odd to you? It's like they don't think we are people," Naruto said to his teammates. Lee nodded his head.

"It is a bit stuffy down here. I could use some fresh air," he said.

"I could too," Hinata said, rolling over and vomiting again into the bag Harashi had provided for her. She had not taken to the sea very well.

"All right, this has gone on long enough. I am going above decks to talk to Harashi, secrecy be damned," Naruto said, standing up. Kit took the opportunity to stand up and trot alongside him.

Naruto walked up the steps and opened the hatch that lead above. It didn't take him long to be stopped by a crewman. The man was talking rather animatedly, and pointing down to where Naruto had come from. Unfortunately, everything that the man said was in a different language. Naruto shook his head 'no' and then said, "Harashi, take me to Harashi."

The crewman opened his mouth and said something else rapidly, then pointed below decks before drawing a sword to nudge Naruto along with. _Can you understand what he is saying? _Naruto said to Kit, and sent some chakra for the reply.

_Something about you not knowing your place. It is the same language I learned hundreds of years ago, but it has evolved since I knew it. He is threatening you though. I don't think servants have much worth here,_ Kit said in Naruto's mind. Naruto moved to comply with the man, when there was a great shout from the other side of the deck. The man who had previously been so interested in keeping Naruto out of sight was now running away, ignoring him completely.

"What was that?" Naruto asked aloud.

"Well, assuming the word still means the same thing, pirates," Kit replied.

"Of course! Pirates! Why wouldn't we be attacked by pirates? I swear we have the absolute worst luck," Naruto grumbled as he walked across the deck with purpose. Naruto noticed the other ship almost immediately. It bobbed in the water, almost taunting the crew with the knowledge that they would soon be under attack. It was obviously larger than the ship they rode on now. The captain shouted some words and the crew all got to work at the same time, drawing out more sails to try and outrun the enemy.

"Naruto, what are you doing? Get back below deck!" Harashi said as he turned around, noticing Naruto for the first time.

"We need fresh air Harashi. Besides what is this here, a pirate attack?" Naruto asked. It seemed that Naruto and Harashi both caught sight of the captain watching them at the same time.

"What insolence!" Harashi boomed, slapping Naruto in the face with the speed of a turtle. Naruto almost laughed, but resigned himself to playing his part.

"My apologies Master, it is just that my friend is sick, and she wishes for fresh air," Naruto said, bowing his head.

"She will get it then, but not now. We are being trailed by pirates, and your master must fight them," Harashi said loudly. Then he said more quietly, "Stay below decks, and under no circumstance are you to help fight. It would give you away before we even reach Swan country."

"What if we don't reach Swan country because you wouldn't let us help?" Naruto asked with a whisper.

"The Pirates will not be expecting a Samurai. They believe that have found a fat merchant vessel. I will be the wall that the pirates will smash against in vain. If I die, I will do so by the sword. It is the way of the Samurai," Harashi said, a tinge of sadness in his voice at the end.

"You sound like you want to die," Naruto said, already turning to walk to the door that would lead back down to his friends. When he was far enough away that Harashi didn't think he could hear him he mumbled some words in his own language. Kit translated.

_If you only knew how much._

* * *

"Pirates! You have to be kidding me?" Lee boomed. "We will defeat them, with our fists of justice."

"We will not," Naruto said. Hinata and Lee both gasped. "We are servants here. To fight would give away our cover. Harashi insisted that they could handle it." Hinata made to protest, but Naruto silenced her with a hand in the air. "If it looks like they can't handle it, then we _will_ fight, and to hell with what Harashi wants. If the boat doesn't survive to port, then we are going to have a hard time getting home." That brought the satisfied nod that he was looking for.

"How much time do we have?" Lee asked, already doing push ups to warm up.

"I would say less than an hour now and they will be on us," Naruto said.

* * *

Harashi finished putting on his armor, and strode out on to the deck. The other ship was close enough that he could already hear the plink of arrows as they hit the water next to their own vessel. The captain was shouting orders, and men were taking refuge behind poles and makeshift cover. Only Harashi and the captain stood out in the open.

"Are you prepared to die old friend?" the captain said, walking up to stand next to Harashi.

"A Samurai is always prepared to die, Taka" Harashi responded without thinking.

"Ah, but are you prepared to die in Gozu's service?" Captain Taka asked. Before Harashi could frame an answer, he continued, "I can read the sadness in your eyes. I have known you far too long. What is this terrible thing he has asked you to do? Does it concern our exiled Lord Tanaka?"

"Careful how deep you dig Taka, lest you cover yourself in my shame," Harashi said sadly.

"It won't matter soon. My men are not fighters. They know how, but I can see now that we are outnumbered, and no matter how hard you fight, we cannot win this battle." Taka said.

Harashi smiled, "Then let us take many of them with us. At least I will die close to my homeland. I am sad only for my new servants."

"They aren't servants Harashi. I saw how the blond one spoke with you. He has known command. He is a leader," Taka said. Their conversation was taking place over the shouts of men as some arrows found lucky marks. It was getting to be dusk now and the enemy archers could only shoot in the direction of the shadows on the deck.

"You must pray that we die in this battle as you say we will. You have guessed too much and I _must_ do my duty." Harashi said. He drew his Katana now, as the Pirates were close to boarding.

"Where does duty end and honor begin, my friend?" Taka asked quietly.

"It is easy for you to ask these questions, since you have not sworn your blade and soul to someone else. These are not questions for me to answer. I am but a lowly samurai doing his Emperor's bidding. You know my heart Taka, I would not follow Gozu if he was not family. As a Samurai I _must _do the duty laid before me by my family. If I survive this battle, I will wash clean my shame with my wakizashi. The questions you ask are questions for someone else, and I can only hope that he makes the decision I hope he will," Harashi said. Men were screaming in earnest now, the battle had begun. With a cry, Harashi threw himself into battle.

Captain Taka watched for a moment, knowing he had few of them left. Drawing his sword, he charged forward on the cramped deck. His men gave a hopeful shout as he joined the melee.

* * *

Authors Note: Firstly, let me apologize for this chapter taking so long to be released. I probably couldn't have picked a worse time to start a new Fan Fic than mid December. Aside from the distractions of shopping and traveling, one of our two cats died two days after Christmas, while she was getting fixed.

It is out now, and I hope you all enjoy it, and drop a review to tell me what you think. If you haven't already picked up, this story will be going in a slightly different direction than Time Apart did. Let me go ahead and give you the heads up, if you want to read about the Akatsuki or Kabuto then you should probably stop now and go somewhere else. This fic will from this point be set almost entirely outside of Konoha, so if that isn't your bag, jump ship now. You have been warned.

I hope the next chapter is released much faster than this one, and of higher quality. I always find transition chapters hard to write. Thanks for reading, and see you next time.


	3. Chapter 3: Survivors

Time Away Chapter 3: Survivors

* * *

Naruto stood at the top of the ladder leading to the upper deck, watching the battle unfold. Through the mass of people, who to his eyes seemed to be clumsily swinging around weapons, Naruto saw that the pirates were pushing themselves aboard. It would only be a matter of time before they had taken most of the deck.

"Naruto, people are dying up there, what are we waiting for?" Hinata asked, her Byakugan activated so she could see the battle even from where she stood under the deck.

"Harashi and the captain have just joined the battle. I want to see if they can swing things our way before we show who we really are to these people," Naruto replied. He watched as the pirates were momentarily pushed back when the two accomplished warriors joined the battle. Then he saw the flow of the battle change. It was nothing an ordinary person could have noticed, but for a ninja like Naruto, it was obvious. Once the pirates had identified Harashi, they had subtlety shifted their weight towards him. His exceptional hearing picked up the soft shouts of the pirate crew.

"That's the target!"

"He's the paycheck!"

Naruto's face contorted into a snarl. This had been a trap.

"Naruto…" Hinata began, but was cut off.

"I know. This isn't a random attack. They are after Harashi. They knew that he was going to be here, which means that someone told them which boat we were on and when to expect it. Lets go!" Naruto shouted, bursting forward from the hatch. No one saw him in the darkness and confusion of battle, as his leap carried him into the sails of the ship. Two quick jumps later, he had positioned himself above the area of the deck where Harashi was. Glancing down, he saw Lee and Hinata enter the battle, throwing bodies off the ship to the surprise of the crew.

Naruto launched himself downward towards the man who was closest to Harashi. In the air, Naruto watched as the man brought his sword around, attempting to cut at Harashi's throat. He watched Harashi lean back just enough to avoid the stroke. Then he landed, surprising both men. With lightning fast speed, Naruto reached out and snatched the blade of the sword from Harashi's opponent. Twisting into the man's space, Naruto slid his hand down the blade and caught the handle, while simultaneously elbowing him with enough force to send him flying through his comrades and off the boat.

"What are you doing?" Harashi asked with an angry hiss.

"Saving lives. Particularly yours," Naruto replied, turning around to face the pirates.

"You have condemned this entire crew to death. Gozu-sama cannot allow them to know about you and live," Harashi said.

"Well if that is truly the case, then first, if I didn't do something they were going to die anyway, and secondly, I don't want to be working for Gozu-sama if he is that big of an asshole," Naruto almost shouted back. While carrying on this conversation, he was dispatching pirates with ease. He didn't even seem to be paying attention to it. He thought he heard the captain laugh.

"You may be an honorable man, but you don't understand the way of the Samurai," Harashi said.

"These men aren't Samurai, they are merchants and travelers. Why should they die for a Samurai's injured pride, and, for that matter, why should you? Were we supposed to stay down there until you were all dead and _then _fight for our own survival? When this battle is over, the captain can turn the ship around, because I _quit!_" Naruto said, shouting by the end. Throwing the sword he had borrowed from the pirates down into the deck hard, he made some hand seals and shouted, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

The roar on the deck was deafening. The crew shouted with glee, while the pirates shouted in terror. In moments, the deck had been cleaned of the enemy, most of them pushed into the water between the two ships. Naruto released the Kage Bunshins and turned around to look at Harashi and the captain.

"Well I think that it's pretty obvious that you aren't a servant," the captain said. "My name is Taka and you and your friends have my thanks. We would have surely died without you, and, as you suggested, we will be turning the …"

"Captain!" a man shouted from the other side of the deck, "Its Swan Country, but we are off course! We are coming up on the northern tip of the island!"

Naruto suddenly noticed that the wind had picked up tremendously, and the ship was still grappled by the pirates and unable to steer. Captain Taka ran to the other side of the deck, where Hinata and Lee had been standing the whole time. Naruto and Harashi followed close behind.

"Well, it looks like the battle wouldn't have mattered anyway," Taka said sadly. "All men prepare for impact! Get the lifeboats out on the double. We are about to hit the rocks!" he shouted, the crew bursting into action. "You will have to excuse me," he finished, and then ran off to work.

"Naruto, something isn't right about this wind," Hinata said as the rocks grew closer at an alarming rate.

_Kit, get up here now!_ Naruto sent, while Hinata was talking.

"What's wrong with it?" Naruto asked.

"It's filled with Chakra. It's like some sort of jutsu," Hinata said, scanning the air with her byakugan.

"That can't be possible. It would take a ninja of outrageous potential to do a jutsu like that, and, if the pirates had one, I think he would have fought us," Lee said.

"It's not coming from nearby, but I can't explain it any other way. This wind was made by someone," Hinata said.

Naruto lifted Kit up and placed him inside his clothes, bundling him up. "Ready to get wet?" he asked. Time was running out.

"Naruto, I apologize for involving you all in this," Harashi said. The ship lurched as the bottom of it slammed into a rock under the water line. In the distance he heard shouts that the ship was taking on water.

"If you are truly sorry, then do us a favor and don't die on us," Naruto said. "We are going to need you after this wreck to get us home."   
Hinata grabbed Naruto's hand, and he turned to look at the oncoming rocks. Time was almost up. Leaning down, he gave her a quick kiss. "Hold on to me," he said.

"Wait, we are going home after the wreck?" Lee asked. "What about the mission?"

In the split second before the ship smashed itself to pieces and threw everyone aboard into the vicious waves and rocks below, Naruto realized that Lee and Hinata hadn't heard him say that they were quitting the mission. As he splashed into the cold water, he decided there was probably no harm done. It's not like anyone from Swan Country knew who they were other than Harashi, and _he _knew that Naruto said they were quitting.

Seconds that seemed like minutes passed as Naruto and Hinata were tossed and turned through the water. Even though he was strong and fast, for the moment, he felt quite powerless as the sea had its way with them. Finally, the moment he had been dreading came, and Hinata was ripped from his grip. Desperately swimming to keep her in sight, he watched in horror as her body was smashed on a rock. He thought he saw her go limp.

_Hinata!_ He shouted into her mind. There was no response. Surely she was just unconscious and not dead. He didn't have time to think about it. He felt pain as he slammed against a rock behind him, and then there was darkness.

* * *

"It is done my lord. The ships have been crushed."

"Excellent. You never fail to impress me. Send some men to retrieve the ninja you had the wind bring to safety."

"As you wish."

* * *

Kit struggled to free himself from underneath the hulking mass of flesh that he knew was Naruto. _Damn him for tying me up inside his clothes, I almost drowned. Then we would have to find a new host, and this one is already adapting to me so nicely,_ the little fox thought to himself. 

Shaking his fur furiously, he tried to dry himself off. A quick check of his surroundings told him that they had washed up on a beach. Close to where Naruto was laying, Kit spotted Harashi. _Lucky,_ he thought as he surveyed the rest of the beach. They were the only three there. Returning his attention to Naruto, he took in the damage.

Naruto would obviously be in a lot of pain when he finally woke up. Several bones had been broken, and Kit thought that it was pretty strange that Naruto had hit so many rocks on their way to the beach. If he had been a normal man, it probably would have killed him. Thankfully Kit's chakra knew what to do to keep Naruto alive, even without him at the helm. Less efficient for sure, and it would take much longer, but it sure beat Kit committing suicide so he could do it himself.

He needed to speak with him before Harashi woke up. Lowering himself to an almost laughable level of dignity for a demon lord, Kit began licking Naruto's face. Finally the young man seemed to regain his senses.

"Hinata," he croaked.

"No, Hinata is not licking your face you idiot, it's me," Kit said.

"Where is she? Is she ok?" Naruto said weakly. He quickly followed the questions with, "My back hurts."

"That's because you broke it and my chakra is fixing it. As for your other questions, I don't know what happened to her, I was tied up inside your shirt. The only other person here is Harashi," Kit said. He was about to continue when Naruto interrupted.

"Saw her hit the rocks …"

"Then she isn't in good shape. If you didn't have me you would be dead right now. I'm not going to lie to you, she may not have survived," Kit said sadly. He had actually become a little fond of the girl himself. Although they were sickening when they were together sometimes, she was one of the few people he could talk around safely. Naruto still wouldn't let him reveal himself to Lee, although it would make things a whole lot easier on missions.

"Not dead. The link between us is still there, but there is no answer," Naruto said.

"Quit wasting chakra trying to talk to her, you need it to heal yourself. If you don't, you won't be able to move for months. You humans heal so slowly," Kit said.

"Hinata needs me," he said. Then he shook his head slightly, "No, she needs you. Your power."

"Well sadly for the both of us, me and you are tied together, not me and her," Kit said. "Now hurry up and fix yourself so we can find a way to get off this island."

"Sorry Kit, no can do. I have a link to her just like I have a link to you. If I can send you chakra, then I should be able to send her chakra. Hopefully it will repair her, like it would me," Naruto said.

"You can't be serious," Kit said, before he sensed a flare of his own chakra leave Naruto's body. Like a bright red arrow, it seemed to point to what Kit could only assume was Hinata's location. "Damn it Naruto! If you die, we both die!"

Naruto coughed once, as blood trickled out of his mouth. "It would be worth it," was all he said before he passed out again.

"Damn it! Damn it, damn it, damn it!" Kit snarled. _Well, he is tough, even without my chakra. I don't even know how he is managing to channel it to her while he is unconscious. He never listens to reason._ Now in a fowl mood, Kit trotted over to Harashi's body. A quick glance showed him that Harashi was hardly injured at all. _That's strange, but handy at the same time. If Naruto won't take care of himself until Hinata is healed, then I will just have to bring Hinata to him. At least he lit the way for me, although I doubt anyone else could see it._ Sighing to himself silently, he attempted to wake Harashi up.

* * *

Hinata was in a world of pain. She wasn't dead, but she could tell she was barely alive. Distantly, she thought she heard a little girl scream. She thought she heard footsteps, but that couldn't be true. She could only see blackness. She was between consciousness, and unconsciousness. She thought she might have been between life and death.

She thought she heard Naruto's voice call out her name. She tried to respond, but of course her mouth didn't work, or at least she didn't think it did. She didn't hear it work in any case. Her world was darkness.

'-Kumiko, run and get the healer. There must have been a shipwreck and if we don't hurry, this girl is going to die!-' a feminine voice said. She spoke in another language. Hinata wanted to respond to her. Tell her that she didn't understand. Her mouth still didn't work. She called out for Naruto again.

'-Why should we help her? She is dressed like a peasant. They have no worth, besides, she is going to die anyway-' a male voice said. Even though she couldn't understand the words, she could feel his emotion, filled with hate and bitterness. Nothing like Naruto. Naruto! She tried to call out again.

'-Shut up and do as you are told. Look around for other survivors. She is mumbling something and I think it is a name-' said the girl. If only she could talk to these people. Of course she could have been making them up. Her heart skipped a beat, then two. She didn't want to die.   
'-Hold on, we are getting help. A healer is on his way-' the woman said. Hinata wanted to live, but it was getting hard. She had no control. She couldn't resist any more, and peacefully, she let go. Her heart stopped pumping blood. She knew it would be over soon.   
"NO!" the woman shouted. That much Hinata understood. She pumped against Hinata's chest in vain trying to get her heart to beat again. There was only one person that could do that. There was a warm sensation in her naval. It spread, and quickly. Like fire, it burned everything it touched at first. Then the pain passed and it forced her heart to beat. It forced her cells to work. It forced her lungs to draw air. It opened her eyes, and she saw the woman kneeling over her, no more that twenty years old, and so concerned with the life of a stranger.

'-My god, she must be blind! Look at those eyes!-' the woman gasped.

Of course no one in Swan Country had seen eyes like Hinata's. Pure white almost, and a sign in Konoha that she carried the powerful Byakugan. Here it must look like they were defective.

"Naruto!" The word was ripped through Hinata's throat. She said it again. She repeated it like a mantra. She wasn't going to die. It was enough. She slept.

* * *

Harashi sipped at the tea that he had made earlier. Currently, he sat in a small shack that looked like it had belonged to a fisherman at one point. Slightly worn down by storms, it still functioned as a shelter. Naruto's crumpled and sleeping body was lying in the other room. The fox hadn't left the man's side.

After making sure he had done all he could for Naruto, Harashi had went out and collected some wood for burning. Ransacking the house, he had located some tea. Whoever had lived in this place couldn't have been gone long. Perhaps they had died as a result of the civil war. Perhaps they had gone off to join with Hiro. Harashi no longer cared. He had done his duty and brought the ninja's here. It was up to Gozu now to find the survivors and do his own dirty work.

Harashi finished the tea, and stood up. Walking to the other room, he gazed at Naruto's broken body. _He had so much promise. He will never recover from this in time to do as I had hoped, _Harashi thought to himself. Sadly, he returned to the only other room in the shack. He retrieved his Wakizashi and stepped outside onto the sandy beach.

Silently, he sat down and opened his still wet clothing to reveal his bare chest. _I don't have anyone to second me, so the pain will be excruciating. It's what I deserve,_ he thought. Slowly he placed the cold steal next to his skin. He prepared to make the first cut.   
"What a coward!" a voice said behind him. Harashi whirled around in anger, brandishing the Wakizashi now as a weapon, instead of a suicide instrument.

"How dare you! You know nothing of me!" he shouted as he turned, fully prepared to challenge whoever had accused him. There was no one there. "Show yourself!"

"I'm right here," the voice said. It came from the shack. Harashi's eyes traced the path to the location he had been sure the voice came from. There sat Naruto's fox.

"Impossible," he whispered.

"Not quite," the fox said, walking towards Harashi slowly. "I'm afraid I can't allow you to off yourself quite yet."

"Why not? What possible use could I be now? I am a disgraced samurai. Even though I was only following orders, I have done a disgraceful thing by bringing you all here. Now Hiro-sama will be killed, and the last hope of this island will be destroyed. If I had been a coward, I would have done this the moment that I was ordered to complete such a task, but I didn't because I didn't want it to fall to someone else," Harashi said. When he finished, he let himself flop back into the sand, exhausted.

"No, if you weren't a coward, you would fight to fix what you have done instead of killing yourself. Honestly, you humans are a messed up lot. However, right now I don't care one bit about any of that. The last hope of this island can go hang itself for all I care. What _I_ care about, is that you are the only person that can keep Naruto alive long enough for me to bring the help he needs. You owe him that at least. After that, if you want to die, I would be more than happy to help," Kit said.

"What are you?" Harashi asked.

"You're worst nightmare, trapped inside the body of an adorable, cuddly, animal," Kit said.

"I will watch him until he is well enough to help himself. You are right, I owe him that. After that though, I plan on completing the seppuku ceremony," Harashi said.

"Good, that's all I wanted. I don't know exactly how long I will be gone. He might not even wake up until I return, but don't worry," Kit said, already trotting in the direction he could feel his chakra going.

Harashi watched the strange animal bound away into the nearby forest. Idly, he wondered exactly what help the fox was going to get to help heal Naruto any faster than normal. Then he remembered it was a talking fox, and decided to drop it. He went back inside to look for an old fishing pole. If he was going to be here for awhile, it looked like he was going to need to eat.

* * *

Lee woke up in a large, elegantly decorated room. He could tell that he had been lying down in a large and comfortable bed. _It's a wonder that I'm not that injured, _he thought to himself. Other than some scrapes, and the fact that he had to untie all his weights so he wouldn't drown, he had arrived, wherever he was, in pretty good shape.

"Ah, you are awake," a voice said in his own language.

_Well, that's good at least. Perhaps this is one of Harashi's friends, _Lee thought. Aloud, he said, "Yes. There were some other people with me, are they ok?"

"A blonde man and a young woman with white eyes?" the man asked, walking towards Lee from the chair he had been sitting in.

"Yes," Lee answered excitedly. If he knew what they looked like, then he must have found them.

"Both dead," he said. "I'm terribly sorry. We had them cremated, as is the custom in this country."

Lee was crushed. _Impossible. Hinata perhaps, but it would take more than a shipwreck to kill Naruto. I've seen him get stabbed and worse. He heals completely in hours._ Masking his suspicion with tears, he said, "I see. Thank you for saving me. What is your name?"

"I'm glad you asked. I am Lord Gozu, ruler of this island. We found you next to Harashi's body, so I deduced that you were the man he hired. Even though the loss of your friends must be shocking, I do hope you can continue with the mission."

* * *

Authors Note: And so chapter 3 comes to a close. Things are heating up, and I hope you all enjoyed it. 

In clarification of what I said in my last authors note, the story is STILL ABOUT NARUTO's TEAM. Just think of it as a filler arc, in that the overreaching story of Naruto ie: Akatsuki, Orochimaru/Kabuto/Sasuke, is not really going to be affected. However the characters are, so if you plan on read Time Apart III (Should it ever exist) this will be required reading ;)

Anyway, please drop me a review, because I love to hear what you think of what's going on. Feel free to post your theories about the story, because it lets me know if I am doing a good enough job foreshadowing and hinting at stuff. So, till next time.


	4. Chapter 4: Sad days, an INTERLUDE

Time Away: INTERLUDE

Tsunade sat at her desk, fiddling with some papers. She was surprised when a messenger walked in with a note.

"For you Tsunade-sama. It is from 'the source'," the woman said.

"I see, thank you," Tsunade replied, sending the woman on her way. She opened the note.

'Dear Tsunade,

I regret that I can no longer send you reports on Naruto's progress for some time. It would seem that my 'scrolls and ink' suffered an unfortunate accident involving smoke, and the crackle of electricity. I have been unable to get it to work since. I write you this letter from someone else's 'scrolls and ink' and will be sending it by him. Seeing as how I have very little money at the moment, it seems unlikely that I will be able to repair or replace my scrolls any time soon. So, with a heavy heart, I wish you and the rest of ninja's still in Konoha the best of luck. When the situation is rectified, I hope I can send you more updates.

Sesamefiction'

Tsunade dropped the note to the floor of her office and sat back, almost unbelieving of the misfortune that had befallen Sesamefiction. He had been her source, sending her reports on Naruto's adventures for some time now. A single tear rolled down her cheek. She wiped it from her face, determined to be strong. She would take solace in the fact that one day she may begin receiving more correspondence from Sesame. However, in the mean time she could comfort herself with someone else's updates.

Turning in her chair, she opened her desk drawer. Inside was a stack of papers, all filled with letters from other 'agents' who followed Naruto around constantly, writing down his every movement for her to read. Beside the papers was a bottle of Sake and a small drinking glass. Tsunade went and put up the "do not disturb" sign to her office, and began reading.

--

AUTHORS NOTE: Sorry for the super short chapter kiddos. I hope you caught on there, because it's against the rules for me to just have an authors notes chapter. So there you have it, the long and short of it is my computer exploded and I won't be able to update for awhile now. My only access to the internet is at work, and I should probably be doing other things even this moment, like working.

Sorry, I know some of you were really enjoying this one. I hope it won't be too long before I can get back to it. Hopefully by the time I can afford repairs I won't have forgotten everything I wanted to write on it.


	5. Chatper 4: Dreams

Chapter 4: Dreams

* * *

Hinata was all alone on the streets of Konoha. She was hungry, and it gnawed at her insides. She had never been this hungry before, it made her crazy. She wandered. Everywhere she went, the people had food, but would not give her any. They were cruel to her. They called her names, and kicked at her. She put her hands up to block the blows, but she was slow and clumsy. The pain was terrible.  
She tried to explain of course. "I have no parents," she would say, but she knew that was wrong. She had parents. Her father was one of the most important people in the city. "I have no money!" she would say, the words coming unbidden to her lips. Another lie. She had all kinds of money. She was heiress to the Hyuuga fortune. 

She continued to search, not only the streets but her memory. Why didn't she have any money? Why didn't she have any food? Why did the villagers, who were usually so nice to her, act so cruel. The very expressions on their faces screaming things at her that words could never hope to convey.

"You are a monster!" they shouted at her. "A murderer!"

"No! I'm not!" she would shout back at them. She didn't understand why no one recognized her. "Don't you understand!? My name is -" Hinata paused, the scene melting at the corners of her vision. The city blurred and faded, replaced instead by a small room. "- Naruto...?" she finished, realizing that she had been having a nightmare. Not really a nightmare though, it was too clear for that. The memories didn't belong to her. Tears blurred her vision.

Hinata blinked, hoping to clear away the water that stung at her eyes, and surveyed the room that she had obviously been spending some time in. Beside her was a bowl of water containing a small wash cloth. She reached out her hand and touched it, and found that the water was lukewarm. Someone had to have been heating it, although not recently. She was sitting upright now, a thin mat the only thing between her and the floor. Other than the bowl though the room was empty, and she could hear voices through the thin walls that surrounded her. She activated her Byakugan to have a look.

There were a few other rooms in the house, one of which was filled with people. One man, who was obviously a samurai was speaking with a young woman and a boy. The boy was being quite petulant, and the woman was trying to calm him. Finally, the man said something and the boy fell silent. Hinata didn't understand any of what was being said.

Even more interesting to her than the people was the trail of chakra that started, or ended depending on which way she thought of it, from her belly. It was blazing a bright red, and their was a slight warming sensation near her naval. She tentatively sent out a message. _Naruto?_ She asked. There was no response. Perhaps the distance was too far.

She thought back to what had happened before she lost consciousness. There was a shipwreck, and she had been split up from the rest of her team. She had hit a rock and felt her body break. Washed to shore, she had been convinced that she would die. Why wasn't she dead? She must not have been wounded as bad as she had assumed.

She tried to stand then, determined to follow the unusually bright chakra trail to wherever Naruto was. Upon making the attempt, she realized that she was weaker than she thought. She fell back to the mat, her arms flinging out in a desperate attempt to balance herself. Sadly, that wasn't going to be the way of things, and her right hand toppled the bowl of water, making a rather loud noise. The speaking stopped in the other room, and then she saw the two adults start to head towards her. She turned off the Byakugan.

The door slid open and the pair walked in. The woman spoke in a language she didn't understand. The look of non comprehension showing on Hinata's face caused the woman to frown.

"Can either of you speak my language?" Hinata asked weakly, her voice barely a whisper. She hadn't expected to be so hoarse.

"I can," the man said slowly. His accent was hard to understand, but he did a fair job. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

"I've been better," she said, her voice still rasping. "I could use some water though."

"Of course," the man responded. He said something to the woman standing next to him, who nodded and walked out of the room. "How did you come to be here?" the man asked her slowly.

Hinata thought for a moment. She was considering what to tell the man. The truth, that she was part of a ninja team hired to assassinate a rebel leader, probably wouldn't go over that well. Then again, she was obviously a foreigner. She was about to open her mouth when he spoke again.

"Did I make the words right?" he asked. The woman walked back into the room holding a glass of water. Hinata accepted it and took a drink. She obviously owed these people her life, and she still had no idea how much time had passed since the wreck.

"Yes," she answered him, her voice a little stronger now that she had put some liquid on her parched throat. "Shipwreck," she said simply. She wondered how in depth he would question her. She didn't really want to tell him much, since she didn't know who he was. Then again, he had saved her life, so she couldn't very well hide much from him for long.

He was beginning to speak again, but she didn't hear him. Her vision began to swim and her ears started ringing. She gripped her head between her hands and moaned, her body involuntarily curling in on itself. Her insides felt like they were on fire. Finally, it became unbearable and she fell into blackness.

* * *

Kit saw the trail of chakra point into a building. He sighed with relief, having finally reached his destination after nearly a weak of travel. Naruto was obviously still alive, since his chakra continued to surge across the miles into his teammate. When that foolish cub recovered, Kit was going to give him quite a verbal lashing. The boy still didn't understand that when he did something as monumentally stupid as sacrificing himself to save someone else, he was sacrificing Kit as well. Selfish, stupid, foolish, and still, despite all his training, a brat. 

There were some humans keeping watch on the little peasant village that had apparently taken Hinata in, but they were a simple matter to bypass. Not only were they not looking for small creatures, but Kit made no noise as he swiftly moved through the forest. He could have killed them all if he had wanted to. Well, he could have if he had access to all his powers that was. As it happened he would count himself lucky to kill a small child if Naruto wasn't around to channel chakra to him. Actually, he probably couldn't kill a small child, since it was highly doubt full Naruto would ever give him chakra for that purpose. Oh well, the things you give up for a little fresh air.

The building Hinata was being kept it wasn't big, but the doors were closed, and since he didn't have opposable thumbs or high chakra reserves, it looked like he was going to have to wait for someone to open the door and let him in. That or he would have to break into a window. While he was waiting he supposed he might as well figure out what the girl had gotten herself into. He trotted up next to the building and listened to the two voices drifting through the thin walls.

"I've never seen anyone heal as fast as she has, but I can't explain the attacks she has been having," a woman's voice said, sounding worried. "All of the bones that had been broken when she arrived have already straightened themselves. I have never seen anything like it, it's ... well it's not natural."

"_If_ she had a magical healing ability, then don't you think she would have fixed her eyes? The poor girl can't even see. Perhaps she just wasn't hurt as bad as you thought," a male voice answered back.

"You didn't see her when we found her Tanaka-sama, she was on her deathbed. Then she screamed out some word I have never heard before, and you could almost watch as she recovered," the woman said. Kit wasn't really paying attention anymore. All he heard was the name. Tanaka-sama. The man standing in the room with Hinata was the target of the mission. This complicated things.

"Something strange is happening here," Tanaka said. "Why would a blind foreigner be on a ship headed for Swan Country? Who would want a blind servant? For that matter, why bring over a servant that can't even speak the language, when there are plenty of people here that would gladly work for some rich noble? Of one thing is certain, its that there is something odd going on with that girl. Keep an eye on her, and if it looks like she is starting to recover again, send for me. I wish to speak with her."

Kit heard footsteps as the man headed for the door. It slid open swiftly, and the young woman bade him farewell. Kit waited for his opportunity to slip in. The woman watched the man walk away, and when her attention was drawn by some creature in the bushes, Kit slipped inside the door. Following the trail of chakra to the back room, Kit laid eyes on Hinata's prone form. She was absolutely covered in blood red chakra. It oozed from her body, which was writhing around on the floor.

Every hair Kit possessed stood on end. He knew that to anyone else, it would just look like she was having a terrible nightmare, but to him, it looked like a red monster was eating her alive. She was mumbling, and her face was covered by her hair, which was matted with sweat. _Naruto is going to be displeased with himself if he ever finds out about this, _he thought. _No, displeased is too mild a word. _

He trotted up to her to examine what was going on. Her body was whole, so whatever his chakra was doing, it wasn't healing her anymore. In fact, that seemed to be the problem. Having run out of things to do with itself, it appeared to be building up in her. Focusing itself around the mark Naruto had given her, the chakra was trying to store itself in her chakra coils, and her body couldn't handle it. Truthfully there was only one body in the world that could hold in the Kyuubi no Kitsune's chakra, and that was because it had been adapting to it from infancy.

Kit's ears flicked involuntarily as he heard the door shut from the other room. He listened to the sound of footsteps as someone walked towards the room Hinata was thrashing around in. Certain that the woman would come into the room, he panicked. There wasn't any place to hide, and was sure that the woman would probably scream if she saw a fox hanging around in her house. Then he would have to flee, and it would be harder to get back into the house. The best he could do was to hope she didn't come all the way into the room. Trotting over to a corner that wasn't immediately viewable from the door, he tried to make himself as small as possible.

It worked. By some miracle Hinata had stopped thrashing for the few moments that the woman stuck her head in to look at her, so she didn't even enter the room. She closed the door and headed to her own bedroom to sleep the night away, muttering something about not feeling that comfortable with such a strange girl sleeping in her house.

Kit walked back over to Hinata, and started licking her face. Perhaps he could manage to rouse her and convince her to get the hell out of here with him. He needed to get back to Naruto before the damned fool expired, dragging Kit with him.

* * *

Hinata was bored to tears. She sat on a playground, swinging back and forth, all alone. Not that there weren't people on the playground, because there were. Several in fact. She had asked to play with them of course, but they all refused. They gave her the same looks that the adults had when she had asked for food. Had that been her? When had she been asking for food? It seemed like a different life entirely.

She swung back and forth, her eyes squinting every now and then, trying to keep the grains of sand that came flying on the wind out. It didn't really work, and her eyes teared up anyway. Were the tears because of the sand? She couldn't say. She should be used to this kind of treatment by now shouldn't she? It was all she had received in her whole life. No that wasn't right. Plenty of children would play with her, she was just too shy to ask. She was the heiress of the Hyuuga clan. Who wouldn't play with her?

As she continued to try to enjoy the playground she noticed a girl halfway hiding behind a pole. She was looking at her, her body mostly hidden from sight but her eyes clearly visible. They didn't have any irises. Totally white eyes, which meant that this person was also a Hyuuga clan member. _Why would _she_ be afraid of me? We are in the same clan,_ Hinata thought. _Why does everyone here hate me so much?_ She got off the swing and walked towards the girl, who turned tail and ran as soon as she knew she had been discovered.

Hinata started with surprise when she saw what the little girl had been wearing. _Those are my clothes,_ she thought. She started putting things together. If that was her, then who was she? She shook her head in confusion of her own question. Why had it taken her so long to figure things out this time? If that was her, then she was...

"Naruto," Hinata whispered, coming back to reality. The first thing she noticed was that her face was wet. She didn't think she had been sweating that badly, but she blinked a few times to clear her vision and sat up.

"Not quite Naruto, but you are half there," the familiar voice of Kit said behind her, followed with the strange bark/chirping noise that she had finally decided constituted his idea of laughter. She didn't share his mirth.

"Where is he? Why isn't he with you!?" she almost shouted, gripping her stomach in pain. The fire there was spreading throughout her body in waves. She groaned.

"Calm down, before you wake the woman who has been keeping you. We need to get out of here, can you walk?" Kit asked.

Hinata nodded an affirmative. "Where is Naruto?" she asked, this time forcefully but in more of a whisper, while she clambered up to her feet. It hurt, but she couldn't tell if that was because she was still injured or because her whole body seemed to being burning itself alive. When Kit didn't answer immediately she frowned.

"He is alive," Kit said, apparently deciding to get that clear before he hit her with the bad news. "but he is not well. I need you to come with me and wake his stubborn, selfish, bratty ass up."

Hinata's frowned deepened as Kit insulted Naruto. Something must be really wrong with him if Kit had left him alone somewhere. "Why do you need me? Why isn't he already healthy? Surely if I had time to recover he has been running marathons."

"Well, um, you see," Kit started, for the first time the sound of worry entered his voice. "He was dying when he landed on the beach, and instead of healing himself he ... well. He sent all his chakra to you through that link. He fell into a coma, and I have no idea how he is still channeling it to you, and why he hasn't stopped yet."

A familiar feeling of dread settled itself in Hinata's stomach right next to the fire. _That fool!_ She thought immediately. _If he dies because of me, I will never forgive him._

Kit looked at her thoughtfully. "Well at least we are both in agreement that he made a poor decision. Honestly, he is still young, if you died it isn't like he couldn't find someone else to carry his pups..." he was still talking when she interrupted him.

"_Shut up!"_ she spat, angry for the first time. A second after her temper flared, she felt a rush of heat spread through her body. She fell to the ground, her stomach wrenching, trying to empty itself but there wasn't anything in there. She looked up at Kit, and it certainly seemed like there was two of the little bastard to her. She shook her head to clear her vision and stood up again. The little fox actually looked ashamed.

"Look, we have to stop him, because he is going to do more harm that good if he doesn't wake up soon. Your body can't handle this much of his chakra," Kit said. Suddenly his ears folded back. "Someone is here!" he hissed.

Hinata didn't waste any time. Turning away from Kit, she activated her byakugan, and scanned the house. The woman who had been caring for her was asleep in her room. The kitchen however, had a man in it that obviously didn't belong there. He was dressed all in black, with his face covered by a hood Her face flushed as she realized what he was doing. He was putting something in the tea that the woman had sitting out. Her eyes narrowed and she walked out of the room quietly.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Kit hissed trotting after her.

"Repaying a favor I owe," Hinata said simply, entering the room containing the man silently from behind. Under normal circumstances she would have informed him that he had been caught, and subdued him if he didn't give up. However at the moment she was feeling particularly vicious, and a little emotionally unstable. After all, she had just learned that her boyfriend, who in her mind was almost completely invincible, was dying and because of her. Then she learned that in an effort to save her, he might end up killing her, and blaming himself forever. Oh, and there was also that little insensitive bit about him moving on and having babies with some other woman. She found herself feeling almost sorry for the man as her kick made its way into his side. After all, Harashi had said that there were no people like the ninja's in swan country.

Imagine her surprise when the sound of her kick sailing through the air gave the man just enough warning to twist his body around and hold up his arms to block the blow. He instantly responded with some lightning quick attacks that Hinata dodged with an alarming amount of agility for an injured woman. She had not been expecting a real fight. She thought she heard him say something as his third punch faultered slightly on its way to her face. She wasted no time taking advantage of his mistake though. Grabbing his arm, she twisted around and planted her elbow in the small of his back with more power than she thought she possessed. He flew down the hallway and slammed through the door, into the womans bedroom. The man she was fighting tried to shout something at Hinata, but she couldn't quite make out his words over the woman's piercing scream. It didn't really matter. Hinata crouched down into a fighting position she had never taken before in her life, although it seemed quite natural to her. Her hands almost on the floor, body folded up, like a wild animal waiting to spring on its prey.

She surged forward, the hallway passing in a blur. At the last instant, instead of delivering a punch to the mans body, she planted a foot in the ground, latching it onto the hardwood floors with chakra. With her other foot, she spun her body around like a top. She did all of this in the time it took the mysterious man to realize she was coming and raze his hands to block a punch he thought was coming from the front.   
The blow slammed into his side, sending him flying out of control again. This time, instead of smashing through a thin wooden door, he flew through the wall. He was quick though, and balanced himself into a controlled roll. He came to his feet again, and wasted no time as Hinata walked out of the building. She could still hear the woman screaming behind her.

He moved forward quickly, his form becoming a blur as it surged left and then right. She wouldn't have been able to dodge if she was trying to see her opponent with her eyes, but she felt the air shift when he attempted to kick her chin from below. She flipped backwards quickly and prepared to end the fight. Landing gracefully, she was about to leap into an attack when Kit jumped in front of the man.

The momentary pause of confusion was all the man needed to reach up and pull down his hood. Hinata was shocked. "Lee?"

"Yes! Good lord Hinata I only shouted that it was me three times!" Rock Lee said. "Thank god Naruto's fox stopped you with his fiery gaze or you would have killed me."

She wanted to stop fighting then. She knew that the battle was over in her head, her body just didn't agree.. She knew that the man in front of her was a friend, and that there was some kind of mistake. She crouched low again in a stance that clearly said she meant business.  
"Hinata?" Lee said weakly. He could sense something was wrong. "Come on, snap out of it."

She wanted to, but she couldn't. Once she had started fighting, all the pain she had been feeling earlier was going away. She heard a growl escape her lips. Her body wanted blood. She _needed_ blood. _Is this what Naruto feels when he fights?_ She wondered idly. It didn't matter. She was about to pounce when Kit spoke.

"Control yourself Hinata. You will regret this if you continue. You need to shut down the tenketsu point near Naruto's mark."

Lee's face was priceless. He quickly looked down at the fox and then back at Hinata. He knew that Naruto had been the carrier for the Kyuubi, but he had never dreamed that the fox that followed him around was anything but a ninja pet that Naruto brought back with him. Hinata knew that he would feel betrayed that they hadn't told him when he had time to get over the shock of the discovery. She shook her head to clear her thoughts. _Blood!_ her mind seemed to surge with every heartbeat. She turned her hand on herself and slapped her midsection, sending chakra into her body, ripping at organs and shutting down the tenketsu that tied her naval to Naruto.

Her bodies response was immediate. She shrieked in pain and fell to the ground, hands instinctively coming to her face, where she could feel her cheeks burning in pain. The chakra inside her was trapped now, and had to way to get out. The chakra around her was no longer connected and a visible wave of energy bent down the grass near her in a circle. Lee and Kit both ran towards her, covering the ground in a second. She looked up into their shocked faces.

"You ..." Lee said, or tried to say. He put his fingers to his cheeks, three on each side and ran them towards his ears, a pantomime of the marks Naruto had on his face since birth.

"We need to get out of here," Kit said urgently. Hinata looked around, noticing the people running towards the commotion.

"You didn't actually get to poison anything did you?" She asked weakly.

"No," Lee responded.

"Good," she said, coughing up some blood. "Carry me. Take me to Naruto, Kit knows the way."

"He is alive also!?" Lee said, sounding somewhat surprised.

"For now," Kit said. "It seems that we need to do some catching up." It was the last thing Hinata heard before she felt Lee lift her body off the ground, and the blackness took her again.

* * *

Authors Note:   
Well guys, it has been awhile. I have no excuses to offer as to why I took so long getting back to this story, but then I don't really need any since I do it for practice and fun. As always let me know what you think, I enjoy hearing your responses to what I write. I won't promise constant updates on this story, but I will say I have the outline finished and it is just a matter of typing the story out. Hope to see you around a little more now. 


	6. Chapter 5: Racing the Clock

Time Away Chapter 5: Racing the Clock

* * *

Rock Lee had always known that people considered him a fast runner. It had something to do with all the intense training Guy-sensei had put him through. Not many people wear hundreds of pounds of weights on their legs and arms all hours of the night and day, just so their muscles defy belief. Rock Lee did, or at least he had until he had to get rid of them to keep from sinking like a stone into the water after the shipwreck.

The weight on his shoulders now was nowhere near the amount he was used to carrying around. One girl of slight build and a small fox in his hands. He had been making good time. The fox would occasionally say something like, "Bear right," or "Faster!"

Lee never responded. He just did what the little creature told him, within reason. He really was moving at top speed. Faster was not possible. Eventually night became day, and then day turned again into night. Hinata was stirring and it was time to rest.

Leaping down from the tree line he had been traveling in, he let the fox hop out of his hands, while releasing Hinata from his shoulders. She was settling herself comfortably on a tree trunk when Kit spoke up.

"Why are we stopping?"

"Because Hinata is waking up, and she needs to sit somewhere that isn't on my back. We have been running at top speed for almost 24 straight hours. Normally I would run until my legs fell off, but we have Hinata to think about. I don't know about you, but I know _I_ don't want to tell Naruto that she died because we didn't take a break," Lee responded. Kit opened his mouth to speak when a mumble came out of Hinata's mouth.

"He's right Kit. I need to eat something. My tenketsu will repair themselves soon, and when they do, I will need all my strength to fight off your chakra."

"Fine," Kit said, sniffing around. "There is a stream near here, I will go catch some fish. Jumpsuit boy can make a fire."

"ALRIGHT!" Lee said, his fist pumping in a celebratory motion. Kit shook his head as he walked off. Once the little animal was out of sight, Lee's face fell. He turned to look at Hinata.

"Can we trust that thing? All those things that those people claimed Naruto did at the trial ... he actually did them."

Hinata thought for a second before answering. "You know I haven't once thought of that. I've known about him for quite some time now. All I saw was the little baby fox. He saved Naruto's life, and mine on several occasions."

"Well, his soul is bound to Naruto's right? So if Naruto dies, so does he. I can see why Kit would want to protect him, but can we trust the blasted thing?" Lee asked the question again. He studied Hinata's face while she thought. The marks that he had always associated with Naruto's face stood burned into Hinata's cheeks. A small streak of her hair had also been shocked into an light orange color. Whatever the answer was, Hinata was tied to it more than she realized.

She hesitated for a minute. "Yes," she said confidently. She nodded as if to finish convincing herself. "Yes, he has never been anything but a friend to Naruto and me. I don't know why he attacked Konoha all those years ago, and I don't know that Naruto knows either," she paused to cough. Her hand came away with some blood, but she just grimaced and wiped it off onto a leaf. "We can trust him," she finished weakly.

"Trust who?" Kit asked, trotting into the clearing with three fish crammed into his mouth. When the two ninja's turned to look at him he cocked his head to the side.

"Harashi," Hinata said. "I was just saying that we could trust Harashi to look after Naruto."

"Oh," Kit said, dropping the three fish onto the ground. "Where is the fire?"

"Right!" Lee shouted, zipping away. He returned less than half a minute later, firewood in hand. It took no time at all for Lee to use two sticks to get a fire going. After the group had cooked and eaten the meal, Lee said, "We rest for 2 hours, and then we can start traveling again."

"Lee, I had a question for you before we sleep," Hinata said. Lee's fuzzy eyebrows raised slightly on his face. "You were with the client right? Lord Gozu?"

"Yes," Lee responded. "Gozu and his friend told me that you and Naruto must be dead and ... wait. I just realized. He said they had found your bodies, and cremated them. Not that he _thought_ you were dead. He lied to me!"

Kit gave a little chuckle. "Imagine that. Harashi didn't have a glowing review of the man."

"Wait," Lee said, confused. "Harashi is alive as well?"

"Wasn't Hinata just telling you that you could trust him to look after Naruto? You don't think I would leave Naruto alone in a coma do you?" Kit said.

"No, well. Its just that," Lee started. "Gozu told me that everyone was dead. I didn't really believe that a shipwreck could kill Naruto, but he said they had cremated the bodies so ..."

Hinata cleared her throat. "My question," she said, "was how did you find Hiro's village. Although now I am very interested in Gozu and his friend. I thought I sensed Chakra in the storm that sunk our ship."

"Well, we didn't find it immediately. I had been sent out with some of Gozu's men to search. There was a kid in one village that approached them. They talked for a little while and then they gave me the poison and directions to the village, along with a description of Hiro and his sister. The rest was up to me, although you stopped me quite skillfully when I tried it. Who would have guessed that the target would have been the one to nurse you back to health?" Lee said.

"Harashi called Hiro this islands 'only hope," Kit said. "Apparently the man that hired us on Gozu's behalf is rooting for the other guy."  
Hinata started to talk, but Kit interrupted, "However, none of this is saving Naruto's life. All I care about is getting him healthy and getting off this island. Gozu can do his own dirty work. Get your rest, I will keep watch, then we can finish the journey. Lord knows what Harashi has been up too all alone in that shack."

* * *

Harashi sat on the beach, staring out into the water. He had spent days contemplating the situation he had gotten himself into, and had come up with only two options. He could wait until the boy died or his friends returned and commit seppuku to cleanse himself of the shame he had brought to his house. His other option was to bring further shame to his house and turn his sword against it. He could seek out Hiro and fight to bring Gozu down. If he was lucky he would survive the battles so that he could take his own life honorably.

However surviving the battles didn't seem very likely. The foreigner that had been hanging around Gozu was very powerful. Harashi had seen him break the earth, split the skies, and cause men to die where they stood. If he fought against him, he would surely die. Unless Naruto survived. If Harashi could convince _him_ to fight, then Hiro might just have a chance of retaking the country. It was typical of Harashi's luck that his only hope was laying in a small fishing hut just behind him in a coma with several poorly set broken bones. Not much of a hope at all.

Then again, the boy also had a talking fox that thought it could help him survive. Harashi didn't understand what finding the girl had to do with Naruto's survival, but he had seen amazing things before, so it didn't seem like too far of a stretch.

Harashi got up and took a deep breath. The salty sea air filled his lungs, and he turned around to head back up to the hut and check on Naruto. Halfway there he froze in his tracks. There were voices being carried on the wind. Harashi listened very carefully. His heart sank when he heard the words, "... Gozu said he would be dead, but if he isn't we finish him off." Another voice answered something back, but Harashi couldn't hear it. Were they coming for him or Naruto? Why would Gozu's men be trying to kill Naruto? Shouldn't he want him for his mission still?

The men walked into view. There were three of them, all young stooges that Gozu had brought to the capitol after his rise to power. Distant cousins of the family house that were more eager to serve than the older ones with more courage than Harashi had, who thought Gozu was bringing shame to the family through his actions. The men stopped when they noticed him.

"Harashi-san!" the lead man said. "We did not expect to find you here!"

"Well, it is here that I am. The ship I was on was caught in a freak storm, and the people I brought at Gozu-sama's request were thrown into the sea with me. It is doubtful that they survived, and so perhaps you could send word back to him that my mission has ended with disaster. I am not well enough to travel yet," Harashi said, showing more of a limp than he actually had. His sword hung heavy at his belt. He was hoping he wouldn't need to draw it on a family member.

The man look around suspiciously. "You haven't found any of the men you were supposed to hire? We were told one had washed up here. Reports by some villagers who had seen a man taking care of an injured ..." he trailed off as he realized the implications of what he was saying. He eyed the fishing shack. "You are of course loyal to Gozu-sama still?"

A flash of anger passed Harashi's face. "You dare to accuse me of dishonor! Know your place boy!" The fact that it was true made no difference.

"I make no such accusation Harashi. I only observe that many of you samurai who are of the older generation have been making a habit of finding excuses to commit seppuku, or outright rebel against our Lord." The man's eyes scanned the area, taking in the terrain.

_He means to fight me,_ Harashi thought. _I might as well strike first. There are three of them, and my leg _is_ slightly injured._ Once his mind had been made up, he moved with a speed the younger men hadn't been expecting. In one smooth motion, Harashi brought his sword out of the sheath at his side and across the throat of the leader. The other two men reacted quickly, but not before Harashi brought his blade down across one of their shoulders, nearly severing the limb and making him mostly useless for the rest of the fight.

Now that the odds were evened up a little, Harashi eyed the third man intently. They circled around each other slowly, Harashi's limp making an uneven groove on the sand. The other man surged forward, his blade flashing for Harashi's midsection. Steel met steel as the men switched positions, sliding past each other in a blur.

"So you betray your family Harashi-san. Why do you hate our rise to power? Our clan has a chance to enforce its will on this island and be _more_ than the pathetic collection of feudal lords trying to curry favor with the ruling house," the man said, undoubtedly trying to throw Harashi off. It wasn't going to work. Harashi's cool silence allowed the man to hear the gurgling noises his brother was emitting.

The man's eyes twitched as he quickly glanced over at his other friend, whose arm had been ruined. It was all the opening Harashi needed. In less than a second it was over, and the third man laid dead in the sand. Harashi's gaze fell back upon the wounded man, who was cradling his arm.

"Please! Let me live! We are kin!" the man begged. He scooted back as Harashi limped towards him slowly.

"Silence boy!" Harashi spat. "You are a disgrace, begging for your life like some commoner. Sit up! Take it with some honor, and be thankful that you will no longer be caught up in Gozu's shameful betrayal of our people to that _foreigner!_"

"You are only jealous that is was to be the younger generation to inherit the titles of the lords that were being displaced by our rise! You are the one who betrayed your family!" the young man said, raising himself to a sitting position.

"Didn't he tell you? Surely he did, you being his precious replacements for the old nobles. Surely he shared the price of his rise to power. The price that William demanded of him in return for his foul magic. He told me, because we used to be as close as brothers. We grew up together, and fought together. You don't know how hard it is for me to work against him," Harashi said, raising his sword high above his head over the shoulders of his kinsman. "However, I cannot turn a blind eye to his bargain. The people were to be slaves, hundreds shipped off to William's homeland every few years for who knows what."

"Lies!" the man spat, his face becoming a pale white mockery of what it used to be. Harashi couldn't tell if it was from shock or the loss of blood. It wouldn't matter.

"I will not let him do this! I will fight him!" Harashi said, his conviction becoming solid for the first time. Like many times in the past the right course of action became clear in a haze of spilled blood. His sword came down, and the man before him lived no more. He calmly wiped his blade off on the man's clothes and began about the task of cremating his kinsmen. He would have to atone for all of this, but not until after he had seen his mission done. He had been the ones to hire these ninja's from across the sea, so he could change their goals if he wanted to. He would use powerful foreigners of his own to fight Gozu and his 'adviser' from even farther away. He only hoped that the fox would return with help for Naruto soon. They had quite the battle ahead of them.

* * *

Hinata woke from her nightmare in a cold sweat. _My tenketsu must be repairing themselves,_ she thought. _Otherwise I wouldn't be living Naruto's childhood over again in my dreams._ She shook the image of the lonely boy crying in the one room apartment that had been his 'home' from her mind.

"More nightmares?" Lee said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah," she said quietly. They had been traveled for another day, and had stopped to rest for the night. She glanced around and then asked, "Where is Kit?"

"Scouting," Lee said, and then chewed on some food that he had been toying with during his watch. "He says he is pretty sure we are close, since I travel much faster than him."

Hinata nodded and stood up. She walked over to Lee and reached down, picking up some of whatever it was that he was eating. She probably didn't want to know since it had most likely been cute and cuddly an hour ago. She still had nightmares sometimes about sliding her kunai into Kit's first body.

"Listen, Lee," she said haltingly. "Don't tell Naruto about my dreams when he wakes up."

"Why? It isn't like he won't know something went wrong just by looking at your face," Lee said.

Hinata grimaced, contorting the whisker stripes on the side of her face. "I don't want him to worry any more than he is going to. Besides, the dreams are private things that I don't think he would want me to know."

Lee shrugged once and then took another large bite. After swallowing he said, "Well, you don't have to worry about me. I won't tell him, but you know that Kit will if he thinks it is important."

"It isn't important. Just a side effect of whatever Naruto did to save my life. I only hope we are in time to save his."

* * *

"My Lord Gozu, the ninja Lee has not returned from his mission. A messenger just arrived."  
"I see. Can you divine why this is William?"  
"No my Lord."  
"Well then, I suppose we should act quickly to minimize the damage. Have the team that accompanied the boy killed before they put together what his mission was. Then we shall gather the army. Now that we know where Hiro is we can do it the troublesome 'honorable' way."  
"We must act quickly Lord. If Hiro suspects what has occurred he will run again and hide somewhere else."  
"Then the villagers will pay for harboring him."  
"Try not to ruin the merchandise Lord Gozu. My country will withdraw their support if we are not paid."  
"Do not threaten me. I will keep my promise."

* * *

Hinata saw the smoke before her nose identified burning flesh. She reflected for a moment that it was a sad thing that she knew what burning flesh smelled like, but then again she was a ninja, and there were some dirty things that came with the job.

"We are here," Kit said, worry evident in his voice. Lee moved faster, if that was possible.

The tree line broke into a beach. Lee slowed and sat Hinata down, who stretched. She was going to tell him again that she could have moved on her own power near the end of the journey, but stopped when she noticed the blood on the beach.

"He will be in the shack," Kit said, trotting in that direction. Hinata passed him quickly, followed by Lee.

The door to the shack opened and Harashi stepped out. He dropped the tea he was holding and stared. "Back so soon. I thought you expected injuries."

"She was injured," Kit said. "What is all this blood about, and those bodies?" Kit pointed his nose at the bonfire.

"I was set upon by some of my kinsmen. It would seem Gozu decided he didn't want some of us to survive that shipwreck," Harashi said.  
"It would seem you decided you didn't want to die," Kit said. "You could have you know. Could have died in battle."

"I will die in battle, but one that has not yet been fought. Come, he isn't in good shape." Harashi walked back into the shack followed by Hinata and Kit.

"I will stay here and keep watch. There may be more of these guys," Lee said. Hinata knew that something like that normally wouldn't keep Lee away from Naruto. That meant that he either sensed something out there, or feared a trap from Harashi.

Then she saw him. Naruto lay on a cot, broken. An involuntary gasp escaped as she bent down beside him. She had seen him in bad shape before, but he always healed so quickly.

"He hasn't moved since I got him in here," Harashi said.

"Naruto, I got Hinata here. She is fine so you can stop with this chakra nonsense," Kit said aloud. He tried licking the boys face. It didn't work.

Hinata shouted at him in her mind, _Naruto, wake up! I'm here wake up!_ That didn't work either. He just lay there, body contorted in unnatural ways due to broken bones that had set without healing of any kind.

"Leave," she said. Harashi made a slight bow and went outside. She knew this was his fault somehow. He had brought them into this situation knowing more than he had told. There would be a time for that.

"Try kissing him," Kit said.

"What!? How will that help," Hinata asked.

"Well, it could be like a reverse Prince Charming thing," Kit said, sounding sort of amused.

"Prince who?"

"Nevermind, old story I heard long before you were born," he answered. He licked his paws and cleaned his ears. Then he trotted along the length of Naruto's cot examining him. "Could try it though."

Hinata groaned in exasperation. She leaned over and kissed Naruto on the mouth. As she expected, nothing happened. She looked at Kit.

"Well I didn't see you having any ideas," he said defensively. She sat down and thought. Naruto was sending all of his chakra through the link they shared, into her body. The buildup of the chakra had been burning her coils from the inside once it had nothing to expend itself on. Now that her main tenketsu was repairing itself, the chakra was trickling in again. It wouldn't be long before there was too much of it and she would start suffering again. Then she would burn out and die. The cure was going to turn out worse than the disease if she didn't do something. Plus, Naruto couldn't last much longer without his chakra.

She concentrated on how she sent her thoughts to Naruto, and instead of thoughts she tried to funnel every ounce of power she could into the link. She was about to give up when Kit got excited. She lost her concentration.

"What did you just do!?" he asked.

"I thought about pushing my chakra through the link. I think his was stronger though and pushed it back in," she said.

"Turn on your byakugan and do it again," the little fox demanded. She complied. She watched as silvery tendrils of her chakra pushed against the torrent of red from Naruto's body. The red was pushed back from the link about three inches before fighting its way back in.

"I'm not strong enough," she said. "Or he is too strong."

"You can move it a couple inches, so get to where thats all you need." Kit said.

Hinata blushed, looking at Naruto's prone form. She stood up and walked over to it. Just a year ago she wouldn't dream of doing anything like this in case he woke up suddenly and saw her, but she was a different girl now. For one, he was dying, so that made many things possible. Secondly though, she didn't mind the idea of him waking up with her on top of him. She was sure though, in this case he would mind her weight on all of his broken bones when he woke up.

So she didn't put her weight on him. Depositing her hands over his shoulders, she lowered herself onto him like she was doing a push-up. When she was hovering over his body by an inch, she concentrated on the link. She pushed with all of her might.

* * *

Naruto felt the power pushed back into his body. Instantly he regained conciousness and stopped sending the demon chakra out. Eyes snapping open, the first thing he saw was Hinata's face about an inch from his. She squeaked and flew away from where she had been. The second thing he noticed was the terrible pain in his body.

"Naruto?" Hinata said, hope in her voice.

"Hello," he croaked. "You alright?" He wanted to move his head to look at her, but he couldn't for some reason.

"Fine," she said, keeping just out of his vision. "You saved me with whatever you did, but don't ever do it again. You almost died."

Naruto tried to laugh but instead he just gurgled. "Is Lee ok?"

"Yes, everyone is fine now but you," she said. Finally she walked back into view. Now that her face was not inches from his or out of his vision he noticed the marks on her cheeks and the blondish orange streak in her hair.

"What," Naruto grunted in confusion. It hurt to talk. _What did I do to her?_ He sent to Kit.

"Don't use your chakra for that crap now," Kit said aloud. "You need it to heal."

Hinata broke into tears now. She crumpled to the floor and put her arms around Naruto. Once again, pain lanced through his body, but he barely noticed it.

"What happened to you?" he asked. There was shame in his voice. She would not be able to go back to Konoha like that. Her father would kill her. He had ruined her with those damn marks, and no matter how much the villagers of Konoha respected him those marks were a constant reminder of what was in him. They would think it was in her too. They would think that whoever was close to him would be burned by it. An infection they would fear worse than any disease. He would be thrown out of the village and her with him. "Oh God, what have I done."

"Don't you dare!" she almost shouted. "I think they are cute," she said between the tears. "I always thought they were cute on you, and I think that makes them extra cute on me, so don't worry about it."

"You don't understand what that will mean for you back home."

"Yes, I do," she said. There was too much understanding in that voice.

"What else happened?" he asked. She was just about to lie to him when an immense pain blacked out his vision. There was an audible crack, and a burning sensation expanded from his back. He grunted.

"I see your spine has fixed itself out," Kit said. "This conversation is over, you have healing to do. Hinata, leave the room and bring in Lee. I promise you don't want to see this happen." She hesitated for a minute, and then caught on to the favor the little fox was doing her. She left.

"That won't save her from the question Kit. Something else happened to her, and I mean to know what," Naruto said. "I should never have gotten involved with her. All I have done is cause trouble."

"Quit your bitching, it isn't like you," Kit said. "I've got just the cure for it."

"What's that?" Naruto asked as Lee walked in the door.

"Pain, and healing," Kit said. "Lee, his bones have set wrong. They will take forever to fix themselves, and we don't have forever. I need you to re-break them."

Lee looked at Naruto, horror in his face. "Do it," Naruto said.

* * *

Outside, Hinata could hear the cracks followed by grunts or screams. They seemed to go on forever. She knew what was going on in there, and she was glad that she didn't have to watch it happen. She wiped a tear from her face, and buried her head in her knees.

She had heard what Naruto had said. That he shouldn't be involved with her. That he caused her pain. It wasn't true of course. All she had wanted her entire life was for him to notice her. She hadn't known what to do with herself when her, along with the rest of the village, though he had died years ago. She had cried harder than anyone at his funeral. It wasn't a big accomplishment since only a few people were crying. Some people celebrated back then.

She knew what he feared would happen. She knew, because she lived through parts of his childhood with him in her dreams. The cruelty of the villagers. The things they said to him as a child, that she could understand because she was an adult. Had they really changed that much? Or did the same fears lurk underneath their new smiling faces. They would find out, and if the answer was what Naruto feared, then she would flee with him. Not even the Hokage could hope to bring Naruto in as a missing nin. Not that she would try, but Naruto was something to behold when he got serious.

_I love you,_ she sent to him without thinking. _I will always be with you, so don't think you can get rid of me because you think it is for my own good_. She had never told him that she loved him before.

She heard more cracks and more screaming. She assumed that he was too busy to answer her. She heard Harashi come up and stand beside her. She about to speak to him when she heard Naruto's voice echo in her mind. _I'm not going ... to get rid ... of you. I ... love you ... too._ The pauses in his mind speech were accentuated with the real world crunches of breaking bones.

"What are they doing to him in there?" Harashi asked, looking a little pale. Hinata answered dully.

"Lee is breaking his bones over again because someone didn't set them so they could heal properly. Once they are broken again, the demonic chakra that he inherited from having the Kyuubi no Kitsune, nine tailed demon lord, imprisoned in his spirit will repair the damage in a matter of hours. He will probably be strong enough to kick your ass for getting us into this mess later this evening"

If possible, Harashi's face became even paler. "I see," he said, though he most certainly did not see.

"Now that I have told you a big hush hush secret, you are going to tell all of us the entire story of what is going on on this stupid island. Then I will decide weather or not I want to kill you for almost getting both myself, and Naruto killed."

Harashi nodded. "I see why Naruto chose you to be his woman. I was planning on telling you all anyway, since I need your help."

Kit's voice came from inside the shack, "Then get in here and tell us, cause we are done breaking bones for the moment."  
--  
Authors Note: And so ends chapter 5. The team is re-assembled and its time for some asses to get kicked. As always, leave a comment. The speed at which I write is almost directly proportional to the encouragement I receive from comments :)


	7. Chapter 6: Ghosts of the Past

Time Away Chapter 6: Ghosts of the Past

* * *

Harashi sat in the small shack and took a deep breath. He was about to tell these ninjas the story of his homeland and how it had gotten involved in the civil war that was going to tear it apart. Then they would decide if they wanted to help him fix it. He felt the weight of a country on his shoulders as he prepared to speak. Naruto's body looked terrible, now covered in bruises that if you examined carefully, were already receding. Harashi let out a long sigh. 

"Tell us everything," Naruto said. "We need to know."

"Very well," Harashi said. "Do not interrupt me, for the story is long."

"We will hold our questions until after," Naruto said. His companions nodded, and so the story began.

"Gozu and I grew up together. His father had been the head of our family, and the feudal lord of our region of the island. However, he died during a raid the High Lord had made on the mainland. Gozu became the next head of the family, but, since he was still young he was taken in by my father, who had been the previous lord's brother. We were like brothers ourselves, we trained together, ate together, went to classes together. Everything went smoothly. When Gozu turned 17, my father stepped aside and Gozu became the local lord, paying tribute to the High Lord. I stayed with him as a guard and close confidant.

However, a few years ago, the High Lord died. His son Hiro should have inherited the title, but as had happened in our family, the boy was too young. The feudal lords argued about who should rule in his stead as he pulled through the last few years of boyhood. It was decided that since a similar fate had affected Gozu and turned out bloodless, that he should hold the throne in confidence.

So he did. As time passed he became more and more violent and dissatisfied. To me he confided that he relished the job of High Lord and did not wish to relinquish it when the time came. He often wished for an accident to befall Hiro, so that he would have an excuse to stay as reagent. He spoke of marrying Hiro's sister and claiming the power permanently anyway. I counciled him against these things, as she was still a girl at the time, and that course would bring only war.

Then William came, the foreigner. As if an answer to Gozu's prayers he arrived and spoke at length with him. They were seen everywhere around the palace together. He told me that our families time had come, and that we would soon rule the entire island with an iron fist. We would replace the feudal lords with our own family members, and take the throne for ourselves. I warned him again of war, but again, he waived me off. He said that we could win any conflict. I do not know how Hiro found out about the plot, but to my shame it was not because I told him. I should have cut Gozu down then, knowing the monster he had become. Hiro, who was almost of age, fled the palace with his sister, giving the people a symbol to rally around.

Some of the Lords tried to fight, but William can do fantastic things with his power. He would rend the earth and call lightning from the sky. Hundred's dead, before even a blade is lifted. However, power is not without price. William's only request for his help in making sure Gozu kept the throne was slaves. Hundreds of peasants to be sent overseas to wherever he comes from. Gozu agreed.

Soon however, it became clear that the populace was not going to bow to him. Not when there was hope that the legitimate ruler would rise up and lead them to some sort of victory against all odds. Hiro's father had been a good ruler, and they wished for a reign like his again. When Gozu could not call him out, he sent me to hire a ninja from one of the hidden villages he had heard of from travelers. We did not know you came in threes. I volunteered for the mission, and searched for the village that would produce the kind of man that could do what I could not. I needed him to see the injustice, and help to right it, no matter what his orders were. When I saw you fight your way through an entire building to save your woman, I knew that that man was you, Naruto.

I did not expect Gozu to betray us however. I was hoping there was enough honor in him to pay you all and let you do your mission if that was what you chose. I was proven wrong though, and it seemed like he did not want to let you all live. I have no doubt that it was William that summoned the storm that blew us onto the rocks. The lives of the men on that boat are on my head as well. I beg you, regain your strength, and come with me to Hiro's side. I will make sure that the money to be paid to your village will be honored when the new mission is complete. Since I am the man that hired you, I can change the objectives, and choose to do so. Will you help me?"

Hinata looked towards Naruto as soon as the story was finished. In the end it would be him that decided, so there was no point voicing her opinion. They had been together for long enough that Naruto would know what Lee and her thought about it anyway. He was silent for a moment, thinking probably, or talking to Kit. Finally he spoke.

"This man Gozu, and his friend William, have caused me some great personal harm. He almost killed Hinata, and because of that me. He also stands to enslave these people. If there is one thing I can't stand, it's people mistreating other people."

Hinata nodded silently to herself and looked at Lee, who had a large grin on his face. The young man stood up and threw his fists into the air. "Alright!" Lee shouted. "Lets go kick this guys butt, and then we can go back to Konoha. Gai-sensei is going to love this story."

Harashi bent down low onto the ground, bowing to Naruto. "Thank you," he said.

"Don't mention it, but you should have been up front with us, honor be damned. You samurai are confused. If something is right, you fight for it. If it is wrong you fight against it. That is honor. Simple." Naruto said, while struggling to his already healing feet.

"You should rest," Hinata said, jumping to her feet as well. His eyes met hers and whatever he saw there made him sit down again.

Naruto cleared his throat. "Ok, tonight we rest. Tomorrow we start the journey. I should be healed enough to walk by then. Then we just find Hiro, convince him to trust us, raise an army, assault the palace, and defeat this guy who is strong enough to sink ships from long distances. Sounds easy." With those words he leaned back down on the cot and closed his eyes.

Hinata started to say something, but it was drowned out by Naruto's snores. _How can he fall asleep so quickly? s_he wondered. Kit gave what amounted to a shrug and hopped up on the cot next to him. He curled himself up under Naruto's arm and closed his eyes. Hinata walked across the room and laid down on the floor next to the cot.

* * *

Naruto woke up before the sun rose. He sat up, and in doing so, woke Kit. The little fox blinked twice at him before hopping down off of the cot and over Hinata. He trotted to the door and stepped outside, and Naruto followed him. Harashi sat leaned up against a post, his eyes closed and his breathing heavy. Naruto couldn't quite tell if he was asleep or awake, but he finally decided it was probably something in between. Stretching his arms out he did a quick check of his body. Broken bones healed quickly for him. Real trouble came from internal damage and burned flesh. He formed a few hand seals and performed a small jutsu, testing his power. If he had to fight a ninja right now, he wouldn't do very well. If he had to fight a normal person, then they would probably die faster than usual, just because he didn't have the energy to play around. 

Naruto looked around. Kit had ran off into the trees, probably hunting for some small game. He knew the Lee would not be asleep, for two reasons. The first being that Lee usually woke up around the same time he did. Naruto woke early because his demonic chakra had the side effect of keeping him more energized than most men. Lee did it because he liked to do lots, and lots of push ups. The second reason was that if everyone else was asleep, then Lee would be keeping watch. He was not disappointed when a whoosh of air to his left heralded Lee's arrival.

"You are up earlier than I expected," Lee said, jogging in place.

"Well, I couldn't sleep. I have been doing nothing but that since we got to this stupid island." Naruto's stomach grumbled loudly.

"I think we still have some fish I could cook," Lee said, still jogging.

"No thats fine. I really want some ramen. I didn't know I would be going so long without it or I would have smuggled some in with me." Naruto got down in the sand and started exercising.

"Should you really be doing that yet?" Lee said. The younger ninja leaped into a back flip and landed on his hands, feet pointing to the sky. He started to count under his breath as he pumped up and down into the air.

Naruto stopped in the middle of a sit up and raised his eyebrows. "Feeling especially energetic this morning?"

"Lost my weights," Lee said. Then, as if that was explanation enough, went back to counting. The two men worked out for a little while, neither saying anything.

"What happened to Hinata while I was out? She has been acting ... different." Naruto said finally. He stood up and faced Lee, who stopped doing what he was doing and looked sharply at Naruto.

"That is something you should ask her," Lee said.

"She won't answer me. She is afraid the answer will hurt me I think," Naruto said. He dropped into a fighting stance. Lee did as well and waited for Naruto's first move. It came slowly, setting the pace for the taijutsu sparring.

"You know how you look when you get angry?" Lee asked, blocking a particularly slow attack and responding a little faster, landing a kick that lifted Naruto off the ground. "She looked that way when I first saw her. It seemed like she was having a hard time holding back."  
Naruto thought as he moved back and forth across the sand. His body had been laying broken and unused for too long, and his movements were still a little sluggish. He pushed chakra into his body, taking tighter control of it. He could feel his eyes dilate and his canines elongate. Time slowed for him a bit as his reactions began to happen faster and faster.

"That's the face she had on," Lee said. The 'Green Beast of Konoha' had to speed up his sparring to keep up with Naruto's new level. Finally, even with the extra control and speed Naruto slipped up, and Lee decided to end it. Grabbing Naruto's arm, Lee twisted sharply. Naruto spun with his arm to keep it from breaking again, and found himself flat on his back.

"Good job," Naruto said.

"It would be about the only time I could beat you. Barely 8 hours after I broke what seemed like about half the bones in your body," Lee said, helping Naruto to his feet. The sun had risen and Harashi had been standing off to the side watching for awhile.

"I'm glad you have recovered. I did not believe it when they told me you would heal so fast," Harashi said.

"You two make some breakfast, I want to talk to Hinata," Naruto wiped the sweat off his face, and headed into the small shack. Kit had returned while he and Lee had sparred, not bringing an animal with him. He must not have been hunting after all. The fox moved to follow him, but Naruto stopped him. "You stay out here too. For a guy that wanted his freedom you sure follow me around a lot."

Kit let a growl slip out and turned away, heading back towards the other two men. "Well, don't get so complacent, now that I can talk to everyone else I might just make some other friends."

Naruto laughed to himself as he opened the door. To hear the demon lord refer to him as a friend in a roundabout way was both entertaining and scary. Naruto had gone from considering him the worst thing in all of the universe to a friend as well in the last 10 years. It just went to show how much time changes some things.

Hinata was awake, and waiting for him. "Good morning."

"Good morning," he said closing the door behind him. He was almost sure that Kit would be sitting right outside the door soon, listening in, so he kept his voice down low. "I want to talk about what I did to you."

"You saved my life," she said. "Can we leave it at that?"

"No."

"Why? Do you really want to look for something to blame yourself over. If you hadn't done what you did I would be dead, and you would be very angry. At least I hope you would." Hinata smiled a little at the end.

"Of course I would be angry. However, I am more interested in your anger. Lee told me that you looked like me when you fought him, and I have noticed you have been a little more aggressive since I woke up."

"My body just isn't set to cope with the Kyuubi's chakra, thats all. I talked to Kit about it, and he said I will be fine. Just lost control in the beginning. It isn't a problem anymore, since I don't have the chakra , and the only reason I have these marks is because I closed off my tenketsu and the chakra couldn't escape," she said. He noticed the beginnings of some tears in her eyes. She was rambling.

"Thats all that happened?" Naruto said, "Because I heard you threaten to kill Harashi yesterday. That isn't like you."

"I'm just protective of you, thats all," she said sheepishly.

"Well I can't have you killing everyone I know just because they said or did something a little rude to me. You would have to kill a lot of people." That brought a strange expression on Hinata's face. Naruto eyed her sharply. She kept her silence. "Just do me a favor and let me know the next time you start feeling upset. I've been living with this chakra since I was born, so I am more able to cope with it. It can do a number on your temper, and I want to make sure there aren't any side effects."

"Sure," she said. She stood up and walked across the small room and hugged him. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you earlier in life. I'm sorry that I was too shy to help you cope with the Kyuubi. If having it for a week can change me so much, I can't imagine how you stayed sane. I'm sorry," She was crying in earnest now.

"I got by, and things have turned out pretty good," he said. "Who knows, if I had someone to lean on early, I might not have turned out to be such a cheerful guy."

Hinata's tears became a short burst of laughter. "Yeah. So cheerful you don't want to kill any eavesdroppers?" she asked. The question was answered by the scuffling of feat and the distinct sound of little claws on wooden planks outside the thin door.

_She ruins all the fun,_ Kit said in Naruto's mind.

_Whatever,_ Naruto answered. _Lets get ready to go. I'm ready to be done with all of this and go home._ He looked down at Hinata. "Those whiskers really are kind of cute on you." Lowering his head a little, he gave her a kiss. "Although they are kind of hard to see when you blush like that."

She grinned and playfully slapped his arm, and he pretended like it hurt worse than it did. Holding hands, they walked back outside to the smells of cooking fish. Naruto ate like he hadn't eaten in days, mostly because he hadn't. Then they started to walk.

* * *

Hinata was very disappointed when the group finally arrived at the village that had kept her while she was injured and it was burned to the ground. Scanning the scene before her, she took in the full depravity of what had occurred. Almost all of the buildings had been completely destroyed, leaving piles of burnt out wood and rubble in their places. The smell of smoke filled the air, even though the fires had long been out. Piles of bodies caused her to avert her eyes as they walked farther into the village. She occasionally caught a glimpse of people watching out of the few surviving houses. "I wish I could not believe that Gozu was capable of ordering something like this," Harashi said, quietly. It almost seemed like a crime to speak aloud. Like you would dishonor to the dead to talk while their burnt and mangled bodies still cooled. The stench of death got stronger as you headed farther in. Hinata looked to the men that traveled with her. Lee and Harashi's eyes scanned the bodies. Naruto looked into the houses that still stood. 

Suddenly, Naruto called something out in a language she didn't understand. He spoke slowly, as though he was reciting something he had memorized. Slowly, tentatively, a woman poked her head out from behind a building. She called back to Naruto. He answered her again and she left the safety of hiding to speak with the strangers.

"How did you know what to say to her?" Hinata asked quietly as the woman made her way across the square to them.

"Kit is translating for me," he said, tapping his forehead. Hinata nodded in understanding. That was the reason they had been sent in the first place, the hope that Kit could understand the language these people spoke. It seemed like a really good idea now. If something happened to Harashi, then Naruto and the team would still be able to survive without him.

Naruto turned to Harashi and spoke quickly, "I will be too slow to talk to her if she gets excited, so you handle this. Find out if Hiro is dead, and if he is alive where he went." The older man nodded, and went to talk with the woman.

Hinata held back the tears that she wanted to shed for all of these people. She looked at Lee, and could see the torment in his eyes. Lee usually had an exuberant energy about him. A certain bounce in his step and a total confidence. In a way he was very much like Naruto. Now she could see he was troubled.

"This isn't your fault," she said, trying to calm him. She knew he probably blamed himself for this.

"If I had only put the pieces together beforehand," Lee said. "Then maybe they wouldn't have found that boy that told them where to find Hiro."

"You probably saved his life," Naruto said. "From what I understand you and Hinata made quite the scene that night. He would have found the poison that you left in his kitchen, and he undoubtedly fled this place weeks ago. You can't blame yourself for this. We will make Gozu pay." There was fire in his eyes. Naruto was very angry, a mood he usually reserved for combat. Rarely had they dealt with such disregard for human life.

Finally, Harashi joined them again. "He left after an attempted assassination," Harashi pointed at Lee. "That means he has a weeks head start on us, and Gozu's raiding force will be headed back to report to the palace that he wasn't here. They will likely be mounted on horseback, so we should hurry before they return to the area."

"Do we know where he went?" Naruto asked.

"She said if we really wanted to find him, that we should follow the young men who travel on the roads. She said they had all left to fight by his side."

"An army of untrained farm boys?" Naruto asked.

"It looks that way. Gozu won't give them time to assemble. Once he finds out Hiro is raising an army, no matter how feeble, he will attack." Harashi said. Naruto scratched his head in thought.

"It is too bad Shikimaru isn't here," Lee said. "He is much better at this kind of thing."

"I have had some experience in the wars of men," Kit said once the woman had gotten out of earshot. "They are delightful affairs that," he began before Naruto cut him off.

"Do you think you can convince the nobles to support Hiro?" Naruto asked, facing Harashi.

"Perhaps, but it will take time. I would have to do too much traveling, and even by horseback I would not make it in time to stop the royal army."

"What if I had a way to travel that was much faster than horseback?" Naruto asked, looking at Lee.

"Please tell me you aren't thinking what I think you are thinking," Hinata said, eying Harashi and then Lee.

"You have been complaining that your weights were lost. You up for some training?" Naruto asked. Lee's face brightened immediately once he caught on.

"I will carry him around this island four times before the messengers even get to the palace to tell Gozu something is wrong," Lee said, a huge grin splitting his face.

"Excellent. Hinata, Kit, and I will track down Hiro and offer him our help. If he doesn't want it, then we will wait until he needs it and give it anyway. Lee, you carry Harashi to wherever he needs to go and get as many trained troops as you can manage and bring them to Hiro," Naruto said.

Harashi interrupted, "You want him to carry me?" he said.

"He runs faster than you think," Naruto said. To make an example Lee vanished from sight completely. Harashi looked around for a moment before Lee tapped him on the shoulder.

"Oh," was all Harashi said. "What happens if Gozu already knows what is going on. He sunk the ship we were on without news of our location getting to anyone."

"Then we have to hold out until you arrive. Don't be late."

* * *

"My Lord, my messenger birds bring news of an army of peasants growing in the south." 

"I see. It would appear that destroying the village that had harbored him was not enough of an example. Rally our full forces, and let us crush this rebellion once and for all. Perhaps you would care to join me? I will be attending in person this time."

* * *

Authors Note: I am trying to get this fic done by January because I am participating along with some of my friends in the area in a 'National Novel Writing Month' escapade. I have to write a 50,000 word novel in 31 days, so I will need all my writing energy for that project. The updates will hopefully be coming faster than even before the computer burnout while I practice writing quickly for the challenge. 

Anyway, wish me luck, and I hope you are all enjoying the story as we gear up for the final clash in Swan Country.


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